


CoSL 20: Ultimatum

by Dracophile



Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [20]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Car Wrecks, Case Fic, Crazy exes, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Ghost Towns, Mentions of Sexual Assault, Multi, OC centric, Original Character Death(s), Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22607197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracophile/pseuds/Dracophile
Summary: Part 20 of the Casebook of Sloane Larson!Part 2 of Bad Company!Sloane's ex and her former hunting party have her captive. Nick and the others are coming to the rescue, but Collin has plans for them. Can they rescue Sloane? Will she rescue herself? Who will die in the process?
Relationships: Nick Burkhardt/Juliette Silverton, OC/OC, Rosalee Calvert/Monroe
Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1061588
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	CoSL 20: Ultimatum

_“Ha!" exclaimed Beauty, almost angrily, "know that I would lay down my life to save his, and that this Monster, who is only one in form, has a heart so humane that he should not be persecuted for a deformity which he refrains from rendering more hideous by his actions. I will not repay his kindness with such black ingratitude.”_

\------------------

**Ultimatum**

\------------------

Sloane groaned, opening her eyes. It felt like she’d been tossed in a rock tumbler and spun around till her joints cracked. Looking around, she saw the airbag and her cracked windshield first, her headlights flickering to the trees in front of her. Taking a deep breath—and it hurt, but she didn’t black out. She was glad Grimms were fairly sturdy. But she could feel something was wrong down her left side when she tried to move and hissed at the burning pain in her leg. She couldn’t move nearly as well as she hoped. The pain cleared her head a little though and got her thinking. _Driving…driving back to Portland, fast…why?... Collin! Collin and the others made like they knew about Nick and the others somehow. Then there was a car behind us, but another car hit us…we rolled down the side…_ She looked over and saw the steep embankment they’d flipped down. Then she blinked and reached up to wipe at the blood trickling down over her face. “Bastards actually did it…” she muttered. She heard another groan and gasped, looking at the passenger seat. “Trubel!” she hissed. She moved to try and get to her and hissed again, looking down to see her leg was pinned by the door. “Shit!”

“Sloane?” Trubel asked, blinking. She was a bit cut up as well, but both had been wearing the seat belts and the airbags had deployed. “What…what happened?”

“They rammed us over the side down that steep hill,” she said. “How are you?”

“Sore,” she grunted, moving around slightly. “But…but nothing broken, I think…What about you?”

“I’m pinned,” she sighed.

“What?” she gasped, getting more alert.

“I’m pinned. The door. Not sure what shape my leg’s in, I’m trying not to move too much to be safe…”

“I…I’ll call 911,” she said quickly, moving to try and get her phone. Sloane reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

“No time…I'm betting their on their way down,” she sighed.

“Then we have to get out!”

“Again, I’m pinned,” she sighed. “You'd need help getting me out. And I’m not sure I can run. I’d slow us down or we’d be sitting ducks.”

“Then what do we do?” she asked, trying not to panic.

“You need to go,” Sloane said decisively.

Her head snapped to her; not sure she heard her right. “What?”

“You need to go. I’m know Collin is in charge of this, and he’s only interested in getting back at me. He’d use you to hurt me. So you need to go, and you need to call and warn the others.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll handle it,” she sighed.

“Sloane, you might be really hurt and they might kill you—” she started.

“I will handle it,” she said more forcefully. “Trubel, you might be the only chance to warn Nick and the others. If we’re both caught and they search our phones they’ll find them. That's assuming they don't try and torture us. So please, go and warn them. Go get to safety.”

Trubel hesitated, looking torn and maybe close to tears, but squeezed her hand hard. “We’ll get you back. I promise.”

She smiled and squeezed her hand back before managing to grab her knife out of her jacket and cutting Trubel’s seat belt. She then held it out to her and Trubel hesitated but took it and got her door open. She was wobbly a moment as she jumped out and looked back to see shapes moving down the steep incline slowly. Echoing she could hear them talking and paused to focus for a moment.

“…believe you hit them! You said to follow them!” Melinda was shouting.

“What if they’re hurt? Or dead?” Jacob asked.

“We’ll deal with that when we get down there, but you can quit bitching! Who bloody well cares about a couple of wesen loving bastards!” Collin snarled back. “And if Amy hadn’t let it slip this wouldn’t be an issue!”

"I said I'm sorry!"

Trubel wanted to stay and fight but knew she was outnumbered. She quickly and quietly made a run for the tree line, planning to follow the road back to town.

Sloane sighed and then turned to look out the window as shadows turned into the figures she once knew so well, and she scowled at Collin as he walked up. He leaned down and punch through what was left of her driver’s side window. She turned her head away and shut her eyes tightly as the tiny pebbles of glass scattered over her like sea spray. He then looked at her with smile that didn’t quite match the manic look in his eyes. “Well…seems you had a wreck.”

“Seems I did,” she said. “You hotwire that car too?”

“Nah, was one of the wendigo’s.”

“Ingenious,” she said blandly.

“Trubel’s gone,” Jacob said, looking at the open passenger door.

He frowned but didn't take his eyes off of her. “You had her leave on her own?” Collin asked.

“Don’t know, just woke up,” she said. “Bit addled, you know, from you wrecking my car.”

Collin smiled. “Well, I admit, going down the hill wasn’t my intention. Looks like you’re trapped…let me help.” He grabbed the door and Amy grabbed the other side and they managed to rip it off it’s hinges. Sloane gave a shout through gritted teeth at the sudden release of pressure and looked down. Her leg wasn’t obviously broken but it hurt enough she was worried it might be fractured or at the very least bruised down to the bone. It was going to be a pain to move. “Oh, looks like you’re a bit banged up too.”

She didn’t say anything, just glared and breathed deeply through the pain. He cut through the belt with a knife from his belt and wrenched her out onto the ground. Sloane tried to push herself up and he planted a foot on her.

“Collin,” Melinda said in warning.

“What? Gotta check and make sure she’s not hiding anything. Amy.”

Amy knelt and felt over Sloane’s body. She pulled one blade out from her boot, but only found the empty sheathe under her jacket. “Her family knife’s gone.”

“Shame, that would’ve been a nice keepsake. Tie her up and let’s get her out of here.”

“Why are you doing this?” Sloane asked, grunting as he pushed her down again when she tried to move.

“You didn’t think we wouldn’t find out?” he laughed.

“Find out what?”

“That you’re _helping wesen_ ,” he spat.

“…”

“Not even denying it?” he asked, his voice cracking.

“Sloane?” Antonio asked, surprised.

“…I wouldn’t exactly say “helping” in how you’re thinking,” she sighed. No point in lying now. Amy tightened the rope she was tying around her hands and Sloane grunted again as she pulled her up to a sitting position. She straightened one leg, trying to keep it stable.

“Then how would you put it?” Colling sneered.

“I put more thought into my hunts. I find out what’s going on, and I hunt those that need hunting instead of just any wesen I meet. Others…I talk to. I learn things from. Hell, I’m friends with a few,” she laughed. She might’ve had a concussion after all. Or maybe she just didn’t care.

Antonio, Jacob and Melinda looked at one another in shock. Collin laughed in triumph at them. “You see? I told you! She’s gone soft! She’s with the enemy!”

“Oh, come off it,” Sloane sighed. ““Enemy”? You’re still treating this like a war or a crusade?”

“Yes, because that is what it is!” he hissed. “You saved those wesen at the compound.”

“Yeah. I did,” she said, not even looking ashamed. It threw him a moment, but he crouched down to look her in the face.

“Where are they?”

Sloane breathed a little easier, glad they didn’t see Matie and her daughter leave. “No idea. Dropped them in town and left. I just didn’t think killing a couple of Langen Ohren who were kidnapped already was justified. Especially one so young.”

“Justified? So, you get to decide what’s justified?”

“Isn’t that what we’ve always done,” she asked dully. “You felt just being a wesen was justified. I disagree—now, more than ever. They didn’t kill anyone; they were just victims of our real target. If they were human, they’d be the kind of people we would be saving. But then, that never interested you much either—”

She gasped as he stood and kicked her in the stomach. “You think you’re better than us then?”

Sloane breathed and looked up at him with a glare that spoke just how much she thought she was better than him. Growling, he kicked again, and this time caught her across the temple hard enough she crumpled to the side. “Collin!” Melinda shouted.

“Shut up! Get her up the hill and we’ll get her somewhere we can question her properly. I want to know what the hell happened to her to make her like this.”

Antonio looked at Melinda, Jacob and Amy, but Amy was following Collin. Sighing, he knelt and got Sloane over his shoulders in a fireman carry and started up the hill with the others spotting him.

\-----------------------------

Nick jolted awake when his phone went off and sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he fumbled for it. Juliette groaned a bit and turned over, figuring it would be a case. So did he until he realized the ringtone was “Trouble”, by P!nk. He was more alert as he accepted the call. “Trubel? What’s up, it’s…3 in the morning.”

“That’s not important,” she said urgently. “This is the first time I’ve had reception in hours and my phone is going to die, so listen: The Grimms turned on us. They have Sloane.”

Nick froze and sucked in a breath. “W…what?” Juliette sat up slightly, hearing the panic in his voice.

“They have Sloane!” she choked out again. “They somehow figured out we weren’t just going to kill every wesen we came across and we tried to get away but they hit Sloane’s car and we rolled down a hill an-and she told me to get away and I did, I left her, and-”

“Trubel, calm down,” he said, getting out of bed. “Where are you?”

“Outside of Boise. I don’t have a way to get back to Portland—and I have to find her! I don’t know what they’re going to do with her.”

“Okay, do you have any money on you?”

“A little…”

“Okay. Can you find a safe place?”

“I don’t know! I mean, our motel is a wash because they were there too, but I could find another or something.”

“Do that and get a phone charger. Text me where you’ll be. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“O-okay. But Sloane—”

“We’ll get her back,” he said, hard and determined. “But save your energy and tell me more when I get there. And stay safe.”

“Right…Right. I’ll see you when you get here,” she said, trying to calm down. Hearing Nick be calm and rational helped.

“See you there.” He hanged up and quickly started getting dressed.

“What’s going on?” Juliette asked, sitting up.

“Sloane’s been taken.”

She gaped and get up as well. “By the wendigos?”

“No, the other Grimms. Trubel says they wrecked her car and took her—I didn’t get much more, but she’s freaked out and alone.”

“Where?”

“Boise.”

“Idaho? They’re still there?” She asked, grabbing her own jeans to put on.

“Yeah—what are you doing?”

“I’m getting dressed. You don’t think you’re going alone, do you?”

“Juliette, this isn’t a normal thing, I’m not even sure what all is going on—”

“More reason you’re not going alone,” she said back firmly. “Besides, we need to get Monroe and Rosalee.”

“They have enough to worry about,” he said.

“Nick, stop it,” she sighed, going over and grabbing his face to surprise him. “If you went off alone, even if you succeeded, do you know how angry they would be you didn’t tell them? Further, you're dealing with a bunch of experienced Grimm. You think you can handle them all without back up? And get Sloane out safely? You need to stop trying to protect everyone and know when to ask for help.”

Nick hesitated but then sighed and grabbed his phone again, knowing she was right. Sitting, he dialed Monroe. “Hey man…you know what time it is?”

“I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t an emergency,” he said seriously.

“…Shit, okay, hold on.” He heard him wake up Rosalee and put the phone on speaker. “What’s up.”

“…The other Grimms betrayed Sloane.”

“What?” Rosalee said, more alert now.

“I don’t know all the details, Trubel called. Sloane made her run for it, but they’ve got her.”

“They’ve got her? What are they going to do with her?”

“I don’t know!” Nick said helplessly. “But I gotta get to Boise.”

“You mean we!” Monroe said.

“Guys—”

“She’s our friend too, Nick!” Rosalee yelled, already getting up to pack and change. “You are not going to go charging in without us!”

“That’s what I told him!” Juliette said, having been in close enough to hear.

He sighed but smiled despite himself. “Okay, you’re all right…But there’s not much charging in, right now I’m just going to meet with Trubel in Boise. So we can plan and get the full story.”

“Then we’ll meet you at the airport,” Monroe said.

“…Okay. I’ll call Hank too and we’ll meet you there.” They hanged up and Nick finished getting dressed, putting things in a small carryon bag quickly while Juliette did the same. But as she did, she suddenly gasped and doubled over.

“Juliette?” Nick asked quickly.

“I’m okay,” she huffed. “Just…been having some body aches lately…”

“That seems a bit more than an ache…” he said worriedly, helping her sit up.

“Okay, so I guess there like…fully body migraines?” she amended, wincing through the pain.

“Yeah, that sounds bad,” he said, getting worked up. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“I just thought it was that potion working out of my system…It’s really not that common, maybe once or twice a week.”

“That’s not encouraging,” he said in alarm. “You need to stay here.”

“No,” she said. “I want to help.”

“I know, but I don’t want to be worrying about you too,” he sighed. “If you get a pain during the fight…”

“Uh…what’s going on?” They both froze and looked up to see Josh peaking in on them. He looked at them worriedly. “Did something happen and we have to make a run for it?”

“No, nothing like that,” Nick said. “We’re just…going on a rescue mission.”

“Oh…cool,” he nodded. “Wait, am I going to be here alone?”

Nick sighed and looked at Juliette who was still trying to catch her breath. She sighed and shook her head slightly. She was obviously feeling wiped just for that few seconds of pain and knew Nick was right. She would only be a hindrance like this. “No, I’m staying…”

“Thank you,” he sighed, kissing her forehead. “I’ll keep you updated on what we do.”

“You better. Now hurry, I can at least start making flight reservations from here.”

He nodded and rushed to finish before heading out the door and to the airport. On the way he called Hank to update him as well, and after a bout of colorful cursing he’d meet them there as well. Between them all they should have a good force, he told himself.

\------------

Trubel found a 24-hour convenience store that was open and bought a charger like Nick suggested, and some band aids and wipes. She also made it out with a couple of snack cakes and a soda hidden in her jacket. The clerk had the good sense not to try her, noting the cuts across her temple and hands.

Next was a place to rest. She knew Nick would try to get there as soon as he could, but she didn’t want to spend more money than she had to. The bus station might be an option, she’d used them in the past, but it didn’t feel secure enough. The streets or a park even less so. The library was likely not going to open for a bit. Sighing, she knew that a motel was probably her best bet like he said. She walked until she saw the first one she could afford, put her name as “Sarah Jones”, and quickly went to the room, locked the door, put a chair in front of it and plugged in her phone. While it charged back up, she went and cleaned the cuts with the wipes and put Band-Aids on them. She heard her phone come back to life and quickly texted Nick the address before she collapsed on the bed. The ache from the car crash was coming back hard and the adrenaline was wearing off. After the hunt just hours ago, walking for hours and constantly looking over her shoulder she passed out.

Meanwhile, Sloane was just waking up, blinking groggily. Her neck was stiff, and she grunted and tried to move her arm to it to work out a kink, only to find she couldn’t move it. Looking down she saw she was tied to a chair—her wrists bound to the arms and her ankles to the front legs. Her left side felt like one giant bruise and she noted a makeshift splint going down to her ankle. “The hell?” she muttered.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a snide voice said. She looked up, able to focus now, and saw Amy standing near a large iron door. It looked like they were in a storeroom of some kind, but one that hadn’t been used in many years from the state of disarray. Dust was everywhere, what little furniture was there was barely being held together, the light flickered just slightly and wasn’t helping her headache at all.

“Amy…?”

“Yeah. I got first watch on you.”

“…Lucky you,” she said.

“Don’t I know it,” she spat.

“…So, what did Collin tell you this time?” she sighed.

Amy glared more and walked up to her. “You should take this a bit more seriously, you know. Collin says you helped those langen ohren escape rather than shoot them. You _helped_ a couple of wesen—wesen that could tell people what we did! What we look like! That’s dangerous even if they aren’t maneaters!”

“And Collin has proof of this, I take it?” she said airily. “I hope so or I’m going to be even more pissed you wrecked my car like a bunch of mindless drones. I mean, you have an excuse to follow his whims I suppose, but the others I thought were smarter.”

Amy slapped her and Sloane gritted her teeth but moved with the blow. “Shut the hell up! You always thought you were better than us, it drove me crazy!”

“Now you’re just repeating him like a parrot,” she sighed, working her jaw. “And really, Collin, listening at the door? Shameless.”

Amy frowned and then turned when the door opened, trying to hide her surprise. “This room is nearly soundproof. You always did have sharp senses,” he sighed. “But so do I.”

“You opened the door a smidge. Then again, not hard to hear a grown woman throwing a tantrum,” she said, glancing at Amy. Amy glared and moved to hit her again, but Collin caught her hand.

“Enough. Let me talk to her. Alone.”

“Collin,” Amy said, unsure. She grunted when he gripped her hand sharply and then let go.

“I said alone. Now out.” She rubbed her hand and cast one more petulant look at Sloane before turning to leave.

“…You know, you could be nicer. She seems think you two are an item,” Sloane said breezily.

“Hmph. We’ve slept together, yes,” he sighed. He eyed her, maybe hoping for a hint of jealousy, but she just looked at him like she was done. “I was planning to call it off after this hunt. When you and I were supposed to get back together."

“And yet you made the moves on me during it without knowing I would. Then had the gall to say I was the one who tried it! I was giving her a hard time since, you know, trying to kill me, but you really are a piece of work,” Sloane said.

He glared, looming over her, and she tipped her head back to look up at him with a bored expression. “I have loved you since we were young. I didn’t give up on getting you back. She doesn’t mean anything special to me.” His tone sounded like he was trying hard to be sincere, but there was an angry edge to it. Another tantrum thrower.

Sloane wrinkled her nose in disgust. “So what, you’re leading her on? Even worse.”

“She’s just some moony-eyed, love-struck girl!”

“Well, considering she does love you, I’d take it where you can get it. You won’t get anything from me.”

He growled and suddenly shoved the chair. She gasped and then jolted when he stopped it just before the back—and her head would hit the ground. “Why…are you so damned stubborn?”

Sloane looked at him again, arching a brow. “I wonder.”

“It was nearly a decade ago!” he snapped, righting her hard-enough head bobbled a little. “You should’ve just forgiven me by now!”

“That’s not how that works! I downplayed what you did for years but I’m not anymore. And you’re an even bigger idiot if you don’t think what you’re doing right now—what you’ve been doing as you lie and keep trying to force your way back into my life—doesn’t make me _hate_ you more,” she snapped back. “I’m not some “moony-eyed love-struck girl” that’s going to forgive any of that or this!”

He laughed, harsh like a serrated knife over skin. “Oh, you aren’t love struck?”

Sloane blinked in confusion. “No? I wasn’t even “Love struck” when we were together!”

His jaw ticked. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not,” she sighed. “I mean…maybe I thought I should love you at one time. But I was with you mainly because it was the logical next step and let’s face it, our mentors tried to set it up. Mostly your dad, Dierdre didn’t really care I think…But if I did, I don’t think it would’ve been as easy as it was for me to leave you. I felt better leaving.” She’d never told him that because as much as she disliked him, she’d never wanted to actively break his heart. Or maybe she was scared what he would do.

Collin was quiet for a while before nodding to himself. He looked pained but also barely holding it together. “Well…maybe you’re not in love with me. But I saw you earlier. On the phone.” Sloane blinked again, confused a moment, before remembering the phone call from Nick in the forest and tensing just slightly. “Aye, yes…I followed, wondering what the hell you were doing taking a call at such an important time. Who would be so important? This… “Nick” apparently is.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said evenly. She grunted when he grabbed her jaw hard enough to bruise.

“Now, don’t lie to me. I heard you. I _saw_ you. That look on your face and that tone in your voice is something new. You’ve never, ever looked like that before. Like just bloody talking on the phone makes you happy! Saying “I miss you too” like some—some sappy little twat!” Sloane stared, not missing the pain in his voice. But she wasn’t sympathetic. He growled and let go, his nails grazing her slightly. “Never looked at me or talked to me like that!”

“You think I will now? After all the lies you’ve told, nearly killing me by running off the road—”

“Oh, you’d have lived!”

“Putting Trubel in danger!” she shouted over him, getting angry now.

“If she didn’t survive, she’s not fit for the title of Grimm!”

“You’re crazy!” she said, shaking her head in revulsion.

“Ha, maybe I am…but then, if you’re so unashamed of your new friends, why did you run?” She didn’t answer right away, and he moved towards her. “I have a theory…after asking around, I know you haven’t left Portland in a while. Word around Portland is there’s a Grimm that “helps” with wesen crime. Not just hunting everything but hunting down and helping wesen that need it. And has wesen _friends_.” He stared her down. “I found this out within days of being in Portland trying to track that Racun Rahang. But I didn’t want to believe it was you. I thought maybe it was your apprentice—that you hadn’t gotten her to stop being so soft yet. But you’re the one that went soft. Now I wonder what I could find out if I tried harder. Maybe I could find out just who those friends are.”

Sloane glared. She was fairly sure that it was Nick he was talking about as they’d tried to keep the rumors of their being more than one Grimm as tight as they could. Which means he didn’t know Nick was a Grimm as well. She didn’t know if that was good or bad. “And what do you think these threats are going to accomplish? Other than make me hate your guts more.”

He flinched and then glared. “Well…I’m planning to fix you.”

“Fix me?” she laughed.

“Yes! Back to how you were before!”

“God, you are so deluded,” she finally said. “You think I’m just going to magically love you and give up the life I’ve built? One where I’m actually _happy_? Ha! I didn’t even know what love was really like till recently!”

He glared more. “So, you do love this “Nick”?” She didn’t say anything, biting her tongue. In truth she’d meant more feeling loved by her friends, something new when they held each other at arm’s length when together before. She _saw_ what romantic love was supposed to be like looking at Monroe and Rosalee, Nick and Juliette, Jean and Mim. And whatever her feelings for Nick were, Collin had already seen them. “Well…I’ll have to take care of that.”

\------------------

Nick and the others pulled up to the airport in record time. Hank was waiting as they came in and waved them over—Nick had called him while. “Hey. I asked and all the flights to Boise are full—soonest one is tomorrow at 10PM.”

“We could drive there faster,” Monroe said in frustration.

“He’s right though, they’re full!” Juliette growled in frustration over the phone. “I’ve been trying to find anything, but there’s nothing.”

“Dammit,” Nick hissed. “There has to be something!”

“…I’ve got an idea.” Rosalee said, pulling out her phone. “Hank, call Renard and tell him what’s going on and that we need an emergency flight clearance…thing! He should be able to pull some strings.”

“Uh…Okay?” he said, pulling out the phone. “You sound pretty confident; you got a guy?”

“If he’s here, yes…”

\----

“Okay, we should be descending soon!” Clint yelled back at them.

“Fantastic,” Hank yelled back, gripping the worn seat beneath him. He hadn’t really been that confident they’d make it in the old plane, but knew they were lucky that Clint was at the airport. Even more so that, after a call to Renard to explain the situation, that he got them clearance within in an hour by pulling a lot of strings. Clint had been sleeping in his plane, but quickly gotten things ready and after 3 hours since they got to the airport in Portland they were coming into Boise. Though with the time change, the sun was just beginning to rise and turn the sky red and purple.

“You going to need a ride back?”

“Possibly, we’ll keep you posted,” Nick said, sitting up front with him.

He nodded, not looking perturbed. They’d promised to pay him this time after all. “So, someone really kidnapped that Sloane girl? I mean, that took some balls,” he laughed. He cleared his throat when Rosalee shot him a look. “What I mean is…she’s tough as nails, I’m sure she’s fine.”

“She better be,” Nick said, a threat in his voice.

They descended and though the landing was a little hard, they made it. They thanked Clint again and quickly headed out. Nick checked his phone and sighed. “Text from Trubel, she’s got a motel room.”

“Good,” Hank nodded, adjusting his backpack. “Does she have weapons though, because we couldn’t bring anything through TSA…”

“I’m not sure, we couldn’t talk long. We’ll ask more when we meet up. But first we need a rental car.”

They nodded, and luckily Juliette had been able to coordinate that from home and got them a tough SUV. They drove quickly to the motel, knocking on the door. Trubel started awake, groaning as she sat up, but quickly got to the door and looked. She sighed in relief and opened it. “Guys! You got here fast.”

“As fast as we could,” Nick said. He frowned and reached up to push her bangs out of the way. She had several small cuts over her face, and several had bandages on them now. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sore and a little cut up, but surprisingly not bad,” she said, letting them all quickly get into the room. “Sloane…I don’t know. She was pinned because they hit her door, so I don’t know if she’s got broken bones or bleeding or—”

“Calm down, we’re all stressed,” Rosalee said quickly, swallowing.

“Yeah. Can we go over this from the beginning?” Hank added.

“We stopped and grabbed food,” Monroe added, holding up a box full of takeout bags.

Trubel sighed but nodded. She started explaining everything: Driving down with Collin, meeting the other Grimms, and planning the hunt, Amy showing up, the camp out, the hunt itself and rescuing the langen ohren, and ultimately the wreck.

Everyone was a bit quiet afterwards and Trubel gulped some water but was still amped up and pacing. “I felt _sorry_ for Collin! I told Sloane to give him a chance! I’m so stupid!” she yelled, throwing the water bottle and then nearly pulling her hair out.

“Easy, Trubel, it’s okay,” Hank said sympathetically.

“No, it’s not! I should’ve listened to her!”

“And would that change what’s happening now?”

“…I…I don’t know…maybe? I mean, they might not have known about the langen ohren?”

“No guarantee about that,” Monroe said. “My bet is they figured it out on their own. And if this Collin guy pushed them to do this, he’s not playing with a full deck anyway.”

Trubel sighed and nodded, sitting down. “I just…She told me to leave…to protect me. I don’t want to be…” _The reason she dies._ It was implied and they all understood.

Nick walked over and pulled her into a hug. “Whatever you’re thinking about yourself, stop. She told you to run, you ran. And it’s good you did, or we might not have come here.”

“But we don’t even know where she is,” Trubel said, pressing her palms to her eyes.

“Hey, you got detectives here,” Hank said, holding out his arms.

“We don’t know if she’s alive…” Trubel said more quietly and they all kind of paused. They’d all been thinking it but had hesitated to say it out loud.

Nick jumped when he felt his phone go off, _Bad Reputation_ playing loudly, and he quickly fumbled for it to answer. “Sloane?” he gasped. The others all looked up hopefully—had she gotten away?

“Not quite. You be “Nick” then?” a cold voice said. He had an Irish lilt as he spoke, and Nick felt his blood run cold then flash heated to boiling.

“I be,” he responded, trying to keep his voice even. “And who would _you_ be?” He knew, like he knew what the Eiffel Tower looked like without ever seeing it in person. A surety that comes from secondhand knowledge from trusted sources. The others all deflated and looked confused.

“Collin Donahue. Sloane’s mentioned me I’m sure.”

“Never,” he said. He thought he might’ve hard his teeth grind. “At least not till a few days ago. Where is she?”

“Oh, she’s alive, if that’s what your worried about,” he said breezily. “Bit banged up. Bit from the car, bit from other sources.”

“What did you do to her?” Nick asked darkly.

“That’s my question, boyo!” he bit back. “Sloane was one of the best Grimm I knew, now she’s some soft little den mother! Taking care of wounded animals and shite! You be having her singing little tunes next!”

Nick looked at the phone in confusion a moment before putting it back to his ear. “Sloane is one of the most amazing people I have ever met, Grimm or no! Whatever she’s doing, it’s her choice!”

He laughed and it sounded course. “Well, listen to you! You do got a bit of the glad eye, eh? I’ll blind it for you,” he added, his voice dropping several degrees.

“I don’t know what that means—just tell us where she is. We’re getting her back!”

“We? …Ah…I thought you seemed a bit ready. Trubel already got you, eh?”

“She did,” he confirmed.

“Well…Alright then. You want to settle this? I’ll text you the place to meet up.”

Nick was surprised a moment but was already thinking. “I’m guessing this is meant to be a fight.”

“Damn straight! We’ll take anyone you brought with you on, and I’ll have your guts for garters!”

Nick didn’t even flinch at the near scream in his ear. “Name the place. But first, I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth and she’s alive.”

“What, don’t believe me? …Aye, fair enough,” he sighed. Nick could hear him walking over to a door and open it—it sounded heavy. “Oi. Your man is on the phone.” Sloane looked at dubiously, then noted her phone to his ear and felt her gut twist. “Go on, say something to him. He called you “amazing”, what you gotta say back? Wants to know your alive so he’s got something to rescue.” Sloane glared at him and kept her mouth shut. Collin glared back and walked over, yanking her hair back. “I said talk! Don’t want them thinking I’m a liar now.”

Sloane took a deep breath through the pain and just glared at him again. He stared her down a moment before letting go—and then suddenly grabbed her leg that had been pinned in the accident, over the makeshift splint. They weren’t sure if it was just badly bruised or fractured either, but she shouted in surprise, trying to move away even as Collin’s hand dug in hard enough she was going to have five new bruises on top of bruises.

“Sloane?!” Nick said. The others had heard the yell because Collin had put the phone right up to her face when he did it.

“Nick, don’t listen to him, don’t come—” she shouted through the pain, and Collin pushed her chair to the floor sideways, making her shout again as her shoulder it the floor. And she couldn’t save herself with her hands and legs tied.

“I think that’s enough. I’ll text you the address and we’ll discuss things a bit more face to face. Say about six tonight? If you come early, I’ll just leave with her and you’ll never see her alive again, I promise you.”

“Wait!” Nick said, but the line went dead.

“What happened?” Rosalee said, looking shaken.

“…She’s alive. But hurt. They have her prisoner somewhere.”

“Where?” Monroe asked.

The phone dinged and Nick quickly opened the text. “He didn’t say, but I’ve got coordinates to where he wants to meet for a showdown…He said six, so we’ve got most of the day to prepare.”

“Okay…then we need weapons,” Hank said. “And I don’t think the local PD is going to let us borrow any. Or any other contacts.”

“…I might have one,” Nick said, quickly going through his phone again.

\-------------

She looked at him darkly. “If you hurt him, I will hurt you back.”

He stood and turned, heading for the door, and Sloane felt a chill at the sinister gleam in his eyes when he turned to look at her again. “I’m not worried. I’ll make sure you have nowhere else to go but back to me or in a grave.” He headed out the door and started back up the stairs to the main level. Outside he saw Melinda, Jacob and Antonio finish parking their vehicles outside the office. Melinda’s red Dodge Ram with a camper top stood out, but so did Jacob’s large RV that was like a mobile house on wheels. Antonio traveled light, since he was more global oriented like Collin rather than focusing on the US, so he’d taken one of the Wendigo’s jeeps as his own, liking the dark olive green of it.

Turning, he went to walk up another set of stairs to the office where he’d brought some of his things. Amy was there when he walked in and he breathed deeply to try and keep his patience. She smiled, albeit with a hint of nerves, when he walked in and stood up.

“So…how’d that go?”

“She’s being a pig-headed bitch,” he growled.

“What else is new?” she said, huffing. Collin gave her an annoyed look and she tried to subdue herself. “Why are we keeping her around?”

“Because I’m not giving up on her just yet. Sloane is one of the strongest Grimms in the world in terms of breeding and ability. We can’t just kill her. It’d be like killing an endangered animal. Well, an actually valuable one.”

“If she’s so strong, why was it so easy to take her down?” she pointed out. “Maybe she’s just gotten that weak.”

“We took her by surprise, and in a bit of an underhanded way,” he said, showing a bit of shame at the admission. “In a straight on fight, it wouldn’t be that easy. You saw her at the hunt. Didn’t even use a gun once. Except to try and lie to us,” he added bitterly.

Amy frowned and walked over to wrap her arms around him from behind. Collin craned his neck slightly to look at her with an annoyed expression and she squeezed him, trying to make it go away. “We don’t need her, Collin. She’s not worth this.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek, missing the roll of his eyes. “We should just leave her tied up down there and move on with our lives!”

“Amy, stop,” he sighed, taking her arms from around him.

She glowered and grabbed his hand before he could pull away. “Why? Why is it always her? I’m the one that stayed!”

“And who bloody well asked you to?” he snapped, taking his hand away. “Christ! I’m not some child that needs looking after! And neither are you!”

“I never said that!” she said, getting a bit desperate. “I just meant _I_ love you! I always have, since we met. You saved me, you trained me!”

“It was a bit of a group effort,” he reminded her, sounding impatient.

“But you’re the one I love!” she said again. “I tried to be patient, I tried to wait till you and Sloane broke up because I knew it would happen and it did!” He looked at her with building anger, an expression she pretended she didn’t see as she released all the tension built up. “But you’ve always, _always_ , focused on her! We could’ve been married, with kids, by now if you just forgot about that stupid bit-”

Collin rounded on her then and grabbed her shirt front, nearly lifting her off the ground as he pulled her up to his face. His patience was razor thin now and ready to cut someone down. “Quit. Your. Caterwauling.”

“Collin?” she said, a little fear trickling into her voice.

“I am sick of this. You know why we’re “together”? Because you’re convenient. You’re convenient because you wouldn’t leave me the hell alone. You’re barely passable as a Grimm, even less useful than Jacob, and so many times you were more deadweight than help but you just wouldn’t _leave._ So, I figured I should get some benefit out of this and slept with you. But there is no way in hell I would marry you or have children with you because of your weak blood. Theresa was more promising than you and she only just started training! So, get this through that thick skull of yours: I do not love you. And when this is over, however it ends, I want you to unlatch yourself from my side and go.” He let go of her and Amy stared, tears in her eyes, but he sighed. “Oh, for the love of God—go blubber outside, I’m not in the damned mood!”

She sobbed and quickly ran for it and Collin just huffed.

\------------

Cynthia Gallin was reading on her tablet—the best place to get some Lesbian romance stories weren’t always published in paper—and drinking tea. Central Texas didn’t get hit by the cold like Portland did in the fall and it was still shorts weather by many people’s standards. The new semester had just started, and she had already finished her first round of studying and was taking a break. She was glad to be able to put down the medical texts and read something for fun again, lounging on the couch with her feet up.

When her phone rang, she blindly grabbed it off the coffee table and looked at the screen. _Det. N.B._

She was sitting up immediately. This was different. She and Nick hadn’t talked in a while—not that they were on bad terms, but they weren’t working to be best buddies either. He had her email and knew she preferred that if catching up. This smacked of being an emergency. She quickly accepted the call and held it to her ear. “Detective Burkhardt?”

“Gallin, hey,” he said. “I’ve got an emergency.”

 _Called it._ “Okay, what sort of emergency? I mean, there’s not much I can do…”

“I just need to know where the Library is in Boise, Idaho, and how to get into it.”

She blinked. “Boise? Why are you in Boise?”

“It’s a long story, but we—I need to get into it and get some stuff for a…hunt.”

“…A little fishy, but okay…You still have your library card?”

“The one you gave me? Yeah.”

“Good. Give me a sec, I think I still have my entrance references.” She quickly went to her cloud and searched through some of the encrypted documents before pulling it up and searching _Boise._ “Bangkok, Baton Rouge, Bismarck (Germany), Bismarck (North Dakota) …Boise! Okay, so, where you’re going is a little different—The Carnegie Library building. This used to be a _Library_ Library, but it’s law offices now.”

“It is?” he said, a little anxious.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. When it was being renovated, we made a separate entrance. The Grimm Library was too massive to move on its own and over a hundred years old. So, you’re going to go down into to the garage across the street. Right at the entrance, turn left and you’ll see a door. Hold your card under the scanner and it’ll open. Go down the steps and go to the door at the end of the hall—it should be open too and it will lead down. Now, hidden just behind the stairs to the side is another card scanner. Scan it, and it should open the door it’s attached too that blends into the wall. This will lead to a tunnel that connects under the street, all the way to the Grimm Library under Carnegie.”

“Wow…that’s…”

“I know, over the top, but Grimms kinda are sometimes,” she laughed. “The Librarian’s name is Eric Lumb. I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard good things—a little strict but nice.”

Nick quickly wrote that down. “Got it…thank you, Cynthia.”

She smiled but couldn’t help feeling worried. “No problem…are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I will, just…we need to get on this fast, we’ve only got a few hours.”

“…Is it Collin Donahue?”

Nick froze a moment. “…How…?”

“He called a few days ago—I haven’t changed my cell yet in the directory. It’s a bit of a process. He was asking questions about Sloane and Portland. I had a bad feeling so I just told him about her visiting twice in a few months and that I couldn’t tell him more because I’m not a Librarian anymore.”

“…Yeah. He’s got Sloane…basically kidnapped her.”

Cynthia’s hand went over her mouth. “Oh God…Nick, I should tell you—Collin was put on a watch list by his mother, a Librarian in Dublin.”

“A watch list?”

“We have a few kinds—not all trained Grimms are homicidal maniacs, I promise— but she put him on the kind to watch out for regarding dangerous behavior. Apparently, he nearly got one of his nephews killed.”

“What? How?” he asked.

“It’s a bit sketchy on the details, but gossip was that he was “training” them, despite them not inheriting yet or maybe ever, and one got cut really bad. Instead of rushing him to get medical attention, he actually stopped him and left him in the woods. He said it was so he could get his first aid kit to treat him, when his sister—who never inherited—saw the blood she rightly freaked out and he started arguing with them instead of helping. They found the boy nearly dead from blood loss. I guess this was the last straw and none of his family is talking to him now.”

“Can’t say I blame them…”

“Me neither. There’s been a lot of other past reports from others about bad behavior. Progressively more. I’m not a psychologist but he’s got issues.”

“And what do Grimms do about those?”

“Well, the best method is therapy, but you try getting a bunch of hunters to go to a therapist on the regular—”

“Ah, no, I meant the reports,” Nick clarified quickly.

“Ah, right…Mostly we’re encouraged to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t like…blow up a building or something and stop them if they do go to the dark side so to speak. But Collin’s gotten a _lot_ of them. The fact his own mother did stood out to me. But…Sloane submitted a few.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, mainly over concerns regarding a fire in Prague. We don’t tell them when they’re on the watch list, but, well…Mrs. Donahue said in her report that he tried to sneak information to look for Sloane more than once and she failed to report it. A mother’s love only stretches so far for some though. It struck me as very stalkery, so I tried not to give anything away, I swear! I never said she’d settled there.”

“…Thanks for the information, Cynthia. I believe you, don’t worry.”

She sighed. “Thanks…please, get Sloane back. I don’t know what Collin is thinking long term or if he ever does, but it can’t be good.”

“No kidding. I’ll let you know what happens. Bye.”

“Bye.”

He hanged up and looked at the others. “Okay. I’ve got the Library location here in Boise. I’m going to go see about getting some weapons.”

“Dude, you’re going to need help to carry all that out,” Monroe pointed out.

“…I don’t know how to bring non-Grimms in, I didn’t think to ask,” he said, grimacing a bit at that hole in the plan.

“I’ll come in,” Trubel said. “I mean, I am a Grimm, if they need to check.”

“Wesen should probably stay on the outside,” Rosalee said.

“As curious as I am, yeah,” Monroe sighed. “We can watch the car.”

“I’ll try it,” Hank said. “What’s the worse they can do, flash a “Grimms Only Sign” at me? I can see about suing them for discrimination.”

Nick tried to smile but was still worried.

They quickly loaded up in the car and drove down towards Carnegie Library. It was a classic, beautiful white brick and sandstone structure. It was two stories tall, with arched windows on tip and rectangular on the bottom, all trimmed in sandstone frames. The front had a peaked roof and two globed lampposts. Lots of old trees lined the lawn in front and gave it a very stately appearance despite being located in the middle of the city. Nick turned to go directly across into a car park located there. He parked as close as he could and then the three volunteers exited while Monroe and Rosalee tried not to stay calm.

Nick went to the door Cynthia specified and pulled the card out of his pocket. Setting it under the scanner that should be for key cards, a black light popped on and the G briefly lit up. The door clicked open and they walked through and down to the other door quickly, then down those stairs. Nick turned to look for another card reader and frowned. “I’m not seeing anything…Maybe I should just call her back.”

“Hey,” Trubel said, tapping his shoulder. She pointed a black slot set into the stairs at waste level.

“Or it could be that,” he said. _Should’ve asked she specify if it was a different kind of reader._ He pushed his card in and it sucked it in with a force that made him jump. There was a pause and then the wall next to the stair well slid back and to the side.

“Whoa…” Trubel said, watching it in rapt fascination.

“Yeah. The one in Portland is hidden under a secret table.”

“Awesome…”

“Reminds me of murder mystery books,” Hank said, a bit more dubious. “Agatha Christie wasn’t a Grimm, was she?”

“Not sure, I’ll ask around,” Nick smiled. His card didn’t pop back out so he hoped it would be given back later and they stepped through. The door closed behind them. It was dark a moment and then a row of LED lights lit up along the path deeper in. The hallway was wide enough they could walk side by side. At one point Nick could hear the traffic above them and wondered how this was kept so secret. Then at the end they came to a similar steel door. He knocked twice, paused, then knocked three times.

“A secret knock?” Hank asked.

“Shh! Sloane did it. I think…”

The panel slid open and aged brown eyes looked at them. “…Mr. Nicholas Burkhardt?”

“Yes.”

“…You have guests.”

“Uh, yeah. This is Theresa Rubel, my, um…student. We need to get supplies for a hunt, and she needs to get her card.”

The eyes didn’t betray emotion and slid to Hank. “And you, sir?”

“Oh, I’m his partner, Hank,” he said, trying to smile.

“…Very progressive. I do not judge,” he said, sliding the panel closed.

“Wha—No, not that kind,” Hank said quickly. Nick honestly wanted to laugh but the door was being unlocked and he wanted to seem serious.

A gentleman in a suite stood there, older and with greying, thinning hair and a hawkish nose. He was dressed in a waistcoat, long-sleeved shirt and dress slacks. He held Nick’s card out to him, and he took it with a nod. “I am Eric Lumb, the Librarian. Please, come inside.”

He reminded Nick of a butler and it was hard not to think of feeling like Batman as they walked in. The Grimm Library in Portland was a bit like a cold war bunker—well stocked but very practical. Concrete, metal cage lockers, modern desks. Boise’s Library must’ve come from a different time. Instead of metal shelves they were polished wood, lined with weapons and vials and other curiosities in neat organization. The walls were painted a bright ivory with wood paneling, and the floors were black stone tile. Antique lights now fitted with modern fixtures hanged from the ceiling with five globes. A large horseshoe shaped desk was set up at the other end of the room with a computer set on one side, and old-fashioned typewriters on the other. Framed posters of anatomical charts for wesen were hung up, as were a few portraits of what must’ve been famous Grimm standing over prone wesen in woge. Nick was a bit put off by these and quickly looked at the rows and rows of weapons. The room itself was also at least twice the size of Portland’s Grimm Library—maybe 4000 square feet.

“Whoa,” they all said together, looking around.

“Is everything alright?”

“Uh, yeah,” Nick said. “This is just…one of the nicer libraries I’ve been to.”

“We’re one of the oldest,” he said with a bit of pride. “Built when Carnegie built the library above, though he didn’t know it. We had someone else on his board helping pull the strings there.” He strode over to the desk. “I will help the young lady with her card if you would like to look around for what you need for the hunt.”

“Right,” Nick said, nudging Trubel. She quickly walked over to help fill out information—it didn’t need an address or anything like normal library cards, just her name, her fingerprint, photo and signature. He used a digital camera to take the photo and went to upload it. Here they had been sure he would be the one using the typewriters.

Nick meanwhile was looking over the weapons, trying to think what was needed. There were dozens of blades hanging on wracks according to size. Some had tags on them, and he looked at them to see they were actually a sort of provenance for them, saying when they were made, by who, where, and any other notable attributes.

“This is pretty damn impressive,” Hank said, looking at a tag as well.

“Thank you.” They jumped when Lumb was behind them again. They could hear the sound of a printer/laminator working and Trubel was looking over things as well. “I’m a retired lawyer. Once I did retire, I had more time to devote to the Library.”

“It shows,” Nick said, smiling in what he hoped was the most complimentary manner.

“What sort of hunt are you on? I’m happy to make recommendations.”

Nick froze a bit, glancing at Trubel.

“Wendigos,” she said quickly.

“Wendigos? Plural?”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded. “A huge group.”

“Ah, yes, we had a Grimm come in mentioning them a few days ago. A whole commune of them?”

“Right, we’re part of that hunting party,” Nick said quickly. He guessed they hadn’t updated Mr. Lumb yet and he was thankful. “But we weren’t able to bring our own weapons due to some conflicts and just need to stock up to go out and meet them.”

“Hm, yes. This is a very different sort of hunt for Wendigos given their numbers. You’ll need some firepower of course.” He walked over to a row of drawers and set his thumb on an area that lit up. It then opened the drawers and he pulled the first one out to reveal a glass case full of firearms.

Nick’s eyes widened. “Wow, that is…extra,” he said without thinking. He glanced at Eric, worried he’s insulted him, but he just looked amused.

“Our benefactors enjoy the latest tech and a little “extra” flare. A bit too 007 for my taste, but it is secure which I appreciate. Please, take a look.”

They walked over, seeing a lot of different kinds of guns in the case. “…I have a confession, Mr. Lumb, I, uh…I’ve only been to one other library with the person who introduced me to all this, and we didn’t really get the chance to check anything out. How does this work?” Nick said.

Mr. Lum paused, glancing between them with a searching gaze, before nodding. “It’s simple. As you have your card, I will enter what you take from this library into record. I.E., “Nick Burkhardt, twenty-fourth of September, rented one Beneli Black Eagle, at Boise’s Branch.”” He gestured to the large rifle in question. “We make any necessary notes. When the hunt is done, we request it be returned to us, or to another library as soon as possible. Ammo is provided for additional cost—market value of course, and sometimes less. If damaged, we request either it be paid for monetarily, or with trade. The same if you would like to keep the weapon. This can be with a weapon or resources of equal or greater value, or with information deemed to be worth the weapon. Single use items such as grenades are limited in how many we distribute and must be bought or bartered with. I do confess, those Grimms who do regularly provide information however are often given better prices or “perks”, as they have essentially created a tab so to speak.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Trubel said.

“Yeah,” Nick nodded. “Okay…what would you recommend.”

Mr. Lumb smiled, and Nick felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

\---------------

Sloane opened her eyes when the door creaked and only slightly relaxed when Melinda came in. “…I got you some water. Why are you on the floor?”

“Collin,” she said.

She frowned in disapproval and sighed, setting the bottle down and then helping to sit her up right. She then grabbed the bottle, with a straw in it, and held it out to her.

“Thanks…” She managed to get the straw into her mouth and sucked down the cool water, realizing how parched she was.

“…Sloane…I wanna talk.”

She looked up and arched her brow. It hurt a bit with the bruises and cuts. “I mean…I’m kind of a captive audience,” she said, moving in the chair a tiny bit to show she couldn’t go anywhere. Then she felt it—the slightest bit of give in the left armrest. She quickly masked the moment of interest and settled down.

“I didn’t want this,” she said quickly. “Collin told us what he thought, and we thought he was crazy. But he insisted. Then we saw you run, and he got us to follow. We just wanted to talk; Collin decided on his own to do this...”

“You should really stop following Collin,” she said.

“You make it sound easy,” she sighed. “He’s an asshole, but he’s persuasive in his own ways. His determination was admirable once. But I didn’t think he’d T-Bone you like that!”

“And yet, I’m here tied up like prisoner of war,” she said blandly.

“What you said shocked us!” she shouted, then tried to calm down. She set the water on a table nearby and paced a moment as she collected her thoughts. Sloane admitted she’d rarely seen Melinda so frazzled. She looked at her with a hard expression. “Have you gone soft?”

She sighed and shrugged. “Kind of, I guess.”

Melinda stared at her. “…I…You are not handling this how I thought,” she said, looking honestly lost. “You punched a man once for just insinuating you were sympathetic to wesen.”

“Yeah, not my finest moment on reflection,” she grimaced.

“Sloane, seriously, this isn’t like you—”

“Stop,” she said, her voice deep and commanding. Melinda stopped, recognizing that tone. “You’re sounding like Collin. I’m gonna ask you something: What do you actually know about me?”

“…You’re a Grimm, you’re one of the greats! You fight like a madwoman, you berate people who do stupid things, you—”

“Melinda, what do you know about _me_?” she stressed, looking at her with a forlorn expression now.

“…I know your grandmother died protecting you from a bunch of wesen,” she said seriously.

“Yeah…but did you know she had two wesen friends who were like daughters to her?” Melinda reeled a bit, gaping. “Yeah. Me neither, I admit. I mean I knew them, they helped raise me, I just didn’t know they were wesen till about a year ago. But I never mentioned them once, did I? Or that I’m Jewish. Or that I love music—”

“Okay, we knew that. You and Jacob talked about it,” she said quickly.

“But did you know I like to dance? I wanted to learn when I was a kid. I was a _ballerina._ I like ballroom dancing. And I still like it, I just hid it from you all.” She was quiet again, looking confused and a bit like she was seeing Sloane for the first time. Sloane sighed. “My point is…I’m sorry.”

She blinked, not expecting that sudden shift. “Sorry? For…”

“Not for “going soft”, no. I’m sorry…that I wasn’t a good friend.” She sighed, looking down. “I didn’t _want_ to tell you any of that. None of you. Not even Collin. I didn’t want to acknowledge those parts of me. I didn’t want to be _me_ because that meant I was also that little girl. That I…wasn’t strong enough. I wanted to be the badass hunter who didn’t actually need anyone but was needed. And to do that, I needed to be close to all of you but not attached enough it would hurt if anyone died.”

“You’re not the only one that felt that way,” she said, a fierceness in her tone. “All of us, we all basically lived that way. That doesn’t mean we weren’t close.”

“But I’m out the other side,” she said, looking up. “I, as reluctant as I was, got pulled into being best friends with people. The kind of friends where we sit and watch movies and talk about stupid stuff and…we didn’t do that. Closest was watching what was on cable in a hotel room till it was time to run for it. I kind of wish we did now.”

“And you found this with wesen first?” she accused.

“Yeah. I mean, we always heard about it, Grimms becoming friends with wesen.”

“And how anyone who did it got shunned for it! They were cautionary tales of Grimms making friends with wesen and then no other Grimm or library or anything would touch them!”

“But why? They were still good hunters. They could still save people and stop the truly dangerous wesen. That’s what my grandmother did! I never knew she was shunned! Why were they shunned for treating wesen as individuals when they still stopped the bad ones?”

“Because…” she started, fired up, but she floundered. “Because they’re wesen!”

“…I don’t think that’s a good enough answer anymore,” she said.

“So, what, you’re just…pushing us aside for your new friends!”

“That’s just the thing…I kept you all at arm’s length. We had our inside jokes and all, but I…treated it all like it was temporary. Because it was. And you all were fine with it. Maybe that’s what we thought we needed, just a group to be alone together. But…I like the life I have now. For the first time in almost two decades, I’m not angry all the damn time! Hell, I’m happy most of the time. So, it’s not like I want to push you aside. But I guess if you want to think of it that way, I’m not the same person you knew. And…I don’t wanna be that person anymore.”

“This…this is sounding a little too new age,” she said, looking torn between laughter and panic.

“Eh, one of my friends is vegan,” she said, chuckling. “And he’s a blutbad.”

“What?” she gasped.

“Yeah. Go figure,” she laughed again. “I just got done being the Maid of Honor for his wife in a wedding—she’s my best friend and a fuchsbau! She’s an herbalist and has helped me with a lot of stuff, has saved us all a bunch of times and—”

“Sloane, I think we hit you real bad,” she said, worried about the laugh and how much she was talking.

She sighed and shook her head. “Mel…I realized the moment I saw you all again I don’t care what you think. And I’m a little sad at that,” she said honestly. Melinda looked hurt as well. “But the only reason I lied was to protect them. If I wasn’t worried what you or Collin or…or Dierdre would do, I’d have been upfront. But you know now, and I’m not going to act ashamed. They’ve helped me on hunts, watched my back, helped catch the bad wesen, all that. I’m still a Grimm. But now I just know to balance that all out.”

“…So why say it all now?”

“Because I know Collin is probably going to kill me soon so…better to say it all now.”

“Sloane, he wouldn’t. He’s still in love with you. If you just…”

“What? Give up and myself to him?” she asked, now looking disgusted. “I’m not gonna sacrifice myself _like that_ , thanks.”

“No, not like that, but if you just…let go of those monsters—”

“Melinda,” she said, her voice dropping to a warning tone. That tone she knew, and Mel saw the old Sloane for a moment and realized just how angry she really was. “Do not talk about my friends like that.”

“Sloane—”

“You know why I left? Because Collin pushed me down and tried to rape me after I caught him tampering with my birth control. Trying to make me get pregnant when I didn’t want kids.”

Melinda’s eyes widened. “He…what?”

“Yeah. I told him we were through; he didn’t like that. But even before that, he liked to get physical sometimes. And I got physical right back—he liked it. I didn’t. You suspected though, didn’t you?”

“…I thought he might’ve done something to hurt you,” she admitted, looking down. “I mean, I didn’t understand how because you didn’t seem like the battered partner type. I figured he’d be nuts to hit you, but I didn’t know…I thought you just needed to time to work through some stuff. I didn’t know he…” She looked sickened.

“Yeah. Just like a Ziegvolk, huh?” she laughed bitterly. Mel couldn’t deny the resemblance. “But even if he hadn’t, why should I barter myself to him like that? Would you? Even if he’s the only man who ever says he loves me, I’ll move on. But that night, that moment, I was more afraid of him than any “monster” I’ve ever met,” she said. “You want to preach to me like Grimms are infallible still?”

Melinda was quiet before turning and walking out the door. Jacob and Antonio were on either side—Amy had refused to come, too busy crying for some reason and telling them to leave her alone. They had listened in to see what she would say.

“…What do we do?” Antonio asked.

“…I don’t know,” Melinda sighed. “Nothing in my training or all my years has prepared me for this kind of shit. But I also…I also don’t think she’s lying. About any of it.”

“You think Collin will kill her?” he asked somberly.

“I don’t know what he’s capable of right now. He’s lost his damn mind,” she sighed, rubbing her temples. She looked over and saw Jacob was seeming lost in thought. “Hey…you okay?”

“…I gotta think a bit…” he pushed away from the wall and headed down the hall, still limping slightly on his leg. Melinda looked at Antonio who was obviously feeling the conflict as well.

Jacob walked out and took a breath, took off his glasses and tilted his head up with a hand over his eyes. He paused, flexing his leg a small bit before sighing. They were holed up in an old mining community, an offshoot of the ghost town Silver Springs but closer to Boise and only big enough for a mining office and a few houses that had been ramshackle when they were new and were now nearly dust. The offices were built to last though, even if they were musty and had some dry rot in a few places. Sloane was currently locked down below, where the ore that was mined used to be kept before processing, behind those large iron doors.

He squinted up at the sky, which was covered in white-gray clouds that hurt his eyes and felt brighter than a sunny day. Sighing, he put his glasses back on and headed inside. But instead of going down the stairs, he headed to the side and up another staircase to the next level. The stairs were old and looked like they might break if one didn’t step carefully, but with his training they didn’t even creak as he moved up. Even the slight pain in his leg didn’t hamper him.

At the top was the old offices for the mine, and that was where they’d made their own base. Collin was there now, looking at something on a laptop sitting on the old desk in the corner. It must’ve been Amy’s because the man was not the best with technology, and he knew better than to try and touch any of Jacob’s gear—it was one of the few things that could really set him off.

“Hey…where’s Amy?” Jacob asked, going over.

“Told her to go for a walk, she was bothering me,” he said tersely.

“…And what are you doing?”

“Trying to figure out who this “Nick” is I found on her phone…” he muttered. “No last name on the phone.”

“…You realize it’s, um…a rather common first name?”

“I’m aware,” Collin said testily. “But he must live in or near Portland.”

“Oh, so that narrows it down to like…a couple hundred. Thousand.”

He looked up with a withering look. “You here to be a gobshite or actually do something?”

Jacob frowned then noticed the phone on the desk. “…That’s Sloane’s phone, right?”

“Aye,” he said.

“…I might be able to find something out if I can get into it.”

“You already cracked the password, that’s all I needed.”

“But there might be other information,” he said. “Geotags, pictures, messages, etc. You focused in on this Nick guy, but other friends might have information too. But I’d need to use my computer—it has a better set up for going in depth on it. It’s down in my RV.”

Collin looked considering before nodding and handing it to him. “Fine. See what you can find out. I doubt she’s stupid enough to say which ones are wesen, but then I didn’t think she was this stupid either…”

Jacob took the phone and just nodded, putting it in his pocket. “It still might take me a bit given I gotta run it off my generator. Want me to grab some food too?”

“Sure, yeah,” Collin said, waving his hand impatiently. “Just be back soon. This guy is coming at six and I’ve got a little trap in mind.”

He paused and looked at him. “What?”

“That Nick guy. Trubel got him, he’s on his way here. Told him meet us here at six and we’ll settle this.”

“Settle it? I—You don’t even know who or what he is, Collin! Were you planning on telling the rest of us?”

“Didn’t I?” he said, looking confused.

“No!”

“Oh…well, tell the others. Not sure who’s with him but if it’s just him it’ll be quick and easy.”

Jacob stared at him. “Tell them what, you’ve invited a stranger here intending to kill him? And where is Trubel in this, does she get the same treatment? And what if there’s more? And what about after, because Sloane will be even more pissed—”

“Shut up!” He snapped, turning to round on him and out of his chair in a fluid motion. “What does it matter? He’s the one that made Sloane like this. As far I’m concerned, I’m going to slit his damned throat in front of her! And any other wesen-loving bastards that come this way! Maybe when they’re all dead she’ll remember her damned place in this world! If she doesn’t, then she doesn’t have a place! Now do what you’re bloody good for and get that information!”

Jacob stared a moment before just turning headed down the stairs, looking resolute.

\----------------

It was about two hours after entering the library, the three members of team Rescue Sloane walked out with a duffle bag full of weapons. One was full of guns—a handgun for Hank, Nick, Trubel and Rosalee, and a rifle that Monroe said he was fine carrying. And ammo. And a couple of mean looking knives for those without claws. They were all also a little shell shocked. Cynthia knew weapons, Nick was sure, but she had never been so…graphic with what they were capable of.

“…I don’t know if that man is amazing, or terrifying,” Hank said. “Didn’t he say he was a lawyer?”

“I guess everyone has hobbies…” Nick said. They headed to the car and set the bags in the back.

“Hey…I’m not sure if that was quick, but it felt long,” Monroe said, looking back at them. “We were starting to get worried.”

“The Librarian there is thorough,” Nick said. “Probably good you didn’t come in…”

“Yay…I grabbed some protein bars at a nearby shop. They’re vegan, but they’ll keep you going. So, uh, you think we’re ready?”

“As we’ll ever be…” He closed the back and went to hop in the driver’s seat, bringing up the address. “He said be there by 6 and it’ll take a couple of hours.”

“Better early than late,” Rosalee said, a hard set to her jaw. “We’re getting Sloane back.”

Nick nodded, not mentioning the threat of running away if they were early. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He started driving, having to loop around to the exit. When he did, a man was standing in front of them and he hit the breaks quickly. “The hell?”

Trubel leaned over and then quickly grabbed Nick’s shoulder. “That’s Jacob!”

“Jacob?”

“One of the Grimms!”

Nick’s eyes widened and he turned back. The man was already gone, and he jumped when there was a knock at his window. But it was gentle—urgent, but gentle. He looked worried but determined. “Hey. I need to talk to which ever one of you is “Nick”. It’s about Sloane.”

Nick stared, looking at the others who were all unsure, but he finally rolled down the window a small bit. “I’m Nick. Nick Burkhardt.”

“Jacob Sauer,” he said. He looked through the rest of the car. “You got a lot of back up…that’s good. Trubel, you okay?” Trubel looked at him warily and he sighed. “Okay, I get being cautious…but I’m here because honestly, I can’t take this anymore.”

“This?” Nick asked.

“Collin. I always knew he was powder keg waiting for a match, but he’s either exploded or a spark landed on him now. I want to help get Sloane out of there.”

Nick looked at the others again and though cautious, Rosalee leaned over to address him. “How do we know we can trust you?”

“I guess you can’t, but I know more about where they’re keeping Sloane than you, and what you’ll be up against. I don’t know the exact plan because he’s not in a sharing mood, but I can do you better than sending you in blind.”

“He makes a good point,” Hank said.

Nick hesitated, looking at the watch on his wrist. “…Alright. What do you know?”

“Not for nothing, but this set up is a little awkward,” he said, tapping the glass again. “I parked my RV over this way on the street, it would be easier to talk there. No traps, I promise.”

Nick was unsure but finally nodded. Jacob backed up and he rolled up the window before parking again and climbing out with the others. Out on the street it was hard to miss the large RV—the kind that looked a lot like a bus—parked near the library.

“You sure about this?” Monroe asked.

“No, but if he does have information, I’m getting it,” Nick said with an edge to his voice. They climbed out and walked to join Jacob heading inside. The interior reminded him a lot of Marie’s trailer. It was much more spacious than they expected, with a table set up under the windows and dark cabinets all along the top and the sides adjacent. Some cabinets were solid wood, others had glass shelves showing rows of books inside. There was a sink, a sliding door to what must’ve been the bathroom, and the back was a bed area. A large TV was set up there, as well as what appeared to be several desktop computers.

“This is impressive,” Hank said.

“Thanks. I found I preferred having more with me traveling than some, so this was a good option.”

“Nick’s aunt used a trailer,” Trubel said, looking into a cabinet.

Jacob paused and then looked at Nick with wide eyes. “Y…are you a Grimm too?”

“Uh, yeah…” Nick nodded. “So were my mother and my aunt.”

“Oh…well, that explains a few things,” he said, nodding as well. He then looked at the others. “So…some of you are wesen I take it?” They all looked a bit worried and he held up his hands. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not like Collin. I’m…more like Sloane and I guess you too. Though I didn’t know that till yesterday.”

They all turned to him in surprise. “You are?” Trubel asked. “Then why did you help him?!”

Jacob sighed at the indignant yell and sat at his table. “It’s…complicated.”

“Like this isn’t?” Monroe said.

“A different kind of complicated,” he clarified. He pulled out a can of ginger ale from his small fridge and sat to sip it. “Okay…I was never the strongest Grimm. I rely on my wits and schemes and such. But for a couple of years now I…haven’t even really been hunting.”

“You haven’t?” Trubel asked, confused.

“No. I keep up with my training a bit, but the wendigo hunt was the first in several months. Part of why I was sloppy.” He flexed his foot with a slight wince. “This is the first time I’ve used my RV in over a year. I just…don’t do it. I never really felt suited to it. I mean, I’m _good_ at my methods, but I…I didn’t like it. Then, I, um…got a boyfriend.”

Nick blinked in confusion. “…Okay?”

Jacob took a breath and braced himself. “He’s a Pflichttreue.”

Everyone froze. “That…sounds like a wesen,” Hank said.

“It is. It’s a white leopard—like Alexander from the council…” Rosalee said. “A Grimm and a wesen…”

“It’s not all that uncommon,” he said defensively. “Well…I mean, it happens, but then the Grimm and the wesen are usually shunned by everyone, if not outright killed back in the olden days. But my family already kicked me out because of being gay so I kind of stopped giving a damn…”

“…My aunt was engaged to a steinadler once. I get it,” Nick said.

“Really?” he said, looking relieved. “Wow…I mean, I say it’s not that uncommon, but I’ve only heard of like 3 ever and they’re all dead.”

“So’s she…” he said. “Um, mostly from cancer though. And she broke up with him because she had to raise me…”

He deflated a little, maybe having hoped to meet her. “Oh…Well, I’m hoping to do stay with it. Live a long happy life, or at least be with him a long time. His name’s Wes. We live in Colorado. I work regularly as an IT guy slash computer repairman and I DJ sometimes. He’s in security. We’re thinking of starting a company. I met him when I ended up hurt and he didn’t kill me. And…last three years have been some of the happiest of my life. I have other friends who are wesen too and I just…stopped being a Grimm. Well, I mean as much as I could, things always come up and some guys just don’t leave me alone. But I’ve managed as normal a life as I can.”

“That’s…great,” Nick said. He was surprised he wasn’t quite as envious as he might’ve been before. He didn’t think normal was possible, but Jacob was trying. “I…okay, so you basically tried to leave the fold or whatever. Why come back?”

Jacob looked pensive at the question. “Collin sent word he needed help with a hunt a few weeks ago. I knew that if I refused, he would want to know why. And…well, while I know Sloane makes him particularly compromised emotionally, I knew without a doubt he’d try to kill Wes, maybe me, and definitely everyone else I’m close with. The same as he’s trying to do now to Sloane. He’s always been a little too keen on the old ways, but we thought it was just talk till a few years ago when he tried to torture someone with fire into woging. So, I knew playing along was the best way to keep him off my back till…I could hopefully think of something to keep him out of my life. Honestly, I should’ve just not checked in with the Library a few months ago. His mother was a Librarian and he knows all the tricks to use it track people…”

“That’s pretty much what Sloane did too,” Rosalee said. “She didn’t want Collin finding out about us, so she played along.”

“Yeah, but Collin isn’t playing anymore. And Sloane told us—well, Melinda, but we were listening—what Collin did to make her leave. We honestly left pretty close after her because we all knew Collin tried to be the leader, but it was Sloane that really knew how to keep us all alive. He was going to get us killed if we didn’t cut loose.” He looked a bit reflective before sighing. “We need to get her out of there. I don’t want to hurt the others, but…Collin at least might not give us a choice. Amy too, she’s in love with him and kind of blind to his worst points unlike Sloane. Antonio and Melinda…I don’t know. They’re not crazy like Collin, but they don’t know about me and they’re not usually the “merciful” types. They don’t go out of their way to kill every wesen, but they think of it as being thorough. It’s how we were all taught…”

The others looked at one another before back at him. “We have weapons,” Nick said.

“From the library, I figured when I saw where you were.”

“Yeah, how did you do that?” Monroe asked.

He pulled out Sloane’s phone from his jacket and held it up. “Took this from Collin. Told him I’d try to get more info on you, but I used it to triangulate your phone number instead. Figured the Library was the most likely place you’d be in this area.”

Rosalee took the phone quickly, looking over worriedly. “…What do we do?”

“We plan as best we can,” Jacob said

\--------------------------

It had been nearly five hours since Collin had seen Jacob. His watch just struck 3:30 and he never showed up to help him. It was annoying because he had to set up a lot of his plan himself. But he could sense that Jacob was hesitant to help him anyway. So were Antonio and Melinda. He seethed at how faithless they were in being a real Grimm.

And he seethed more so that he needed help.

He’d been able to set up most of it, but it was about time to get Sloane into place. Antonio was watching her and the look he gave Collin when he started down the stairs gave him pause. They’d always butted heads a little. Antonio was too easy going in some cases, but he also had his own set of standards and a code he lived by. And the way he glared at Collin promised that if he came any closer to that door, it was going to be a fight. Collin wasn’t afraid of fighting him but knew in a fair fight it would be rough and he didn’t want to be at partial strength. An element of surprise was needed.

Melinda was a no go, she was pretty ready to fight him with the right push. Antonio was off checking the parameter but would also likely refuse if he told him what he was going to do, he was annoyingly chivalrous with the ladies. Jacob was still MIA. So that left…

“Bollocks,” he muttered. He steeled himself and went searching for Amy. He found her easily enough, breaking whatever she could find in an old house. It was easy to find her and explained why Melinda was out of the way—Amy had developed the destructive tendency a little after Sloane left and she’d nearly been hit by it before by accident. “Amy.”

She paused, still holding what was left of a chair in her hands before turning to glare at him. “What?”

Collin put on a gentler tone and expression as he walked forward. “I’m sorry, pet. I said a lot of things but it was…I’m just stressed and angry and I took it out on you.”

“You do that a lot,” she said, smashing the chair again. “I forgive a lot, why should I forgive you this time?”

“Because you are right. You’re the one that has stuck around all this time. You even tried to help with my family. And I do thank you for that, all of it.”

She eased her defensive stance a little, looking at him with uncertainty. “…You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“Amy,” he said, disappointed.

She turned and talked over, something she hadn’t done before. “You said you didn’t love me! That I was convenient! Did you think I’d forget that? That I’m that stupid?”

“Amy, I’m sorry,” He said again. “I told you, I was angry—not at you, but at Sloane. I know I treated you badly…I treated you like you treated that chair,” he said, gesturing. “You’re angry at me, and Sloane, and you’re taking it out on that chair. I was angry at Sloane and I took it out on you. Now the chair’s a chair, but you didn’t deserve that. I know. You’ve done a lot for me.”

“…I’m not useless or a bad Grimm.”

Collin had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the petulant tone. This woman was in her twenties and still sounded like a petulant teen sometimes. But he smiled kindly and walked over, gently cupping her cheek and leaning in. “No, you aren’t. I’m sorry for that too. You’re the closest person to me here, I know that.”

She smiled and let go of the chair to hug him and give him a kiss. This time he did roll his eyes since she couldn’t see but hugged her back and returned the kiss before she pulled away and cuddled up to him. “Thank you, Collin…”

“Of course…Now, I’ve got a plan and I need your help. I think you might enjoy some of it.”

She pulled back, frowning. “Can’t we just leave?”

“No, no, this is important. And we need to take care of Sloane.”

\-------------------------

Juliette sighed as she tried to focus on her work. It was hard because she kept thinking about Nick and the others. She wished she’d gone with them. It always felt like she was on the sidelines and it was frustrating. She’d been useful in the past—hell, she’d nearly taken out a Siegbarste before she even knew wesen were real! She beat up a klaustrike when he attacked! But Nick worried so much about her being in the middle of things. It was sweet but she didn’t want to be the weak link in what was happening. She was good for more than breaking curses and spells, dammit!

She was running some blood work for a schnauzer when she felt the world tilt a bit. She quickly grabbed the edge of the counter, breathing deeply as her stomach turned. She managed to quickly run to the bathroom, thinking she might vomit. But after spitting a couple of times—a bit of bile in there from the taste—it calmed. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a bit pale and she ran some water to splash her face.

“Juliette? You okay?” one of her coworkers asked, knocking on the door.

“Yeah…yeah, I’m alright. Just had a little vertigo for a second.”

“Oh, the changing seasons do that to me too,” she said. “Take a break, I’ll watch your tests for you.”

“Thanks!” she said. She looked at her reflection again, wondering just what was wrong with her though. It felt like too much was going on to be a coincidence.

\-------------------------

Amy was walking down the stairs towards the storage room. Antonio was outside, playing something on his phone. He looked up when she came and frowned a bit. “Hey, Amy…you okay? Melinda said you were doing some stress breaking.”

“Fine,” she said, smiling. “I came to get Sloane. Collin wants to move her for the plan.”

“…What plan?”

Amy blinked but then sighed. “Did Collin not tell you?”

“No…”

“He lured her friends here. He’s going to execute her in front of them,” she said, folding her arms.

Antonio stared before shaking his head slowly. “No. No, we’re not doing that.”

She glared at him. “Excuse me? Why not?”

“Why not—We’re not executing our friend!” he said, looking at her askance. “We’ve done enough to her!”

“Friend? “Done enough to her?”” she sneered. “What, do you want to sleep with her too?”

“Hey now,” Antonio said, frowning. “I’m just saying, Sloane’s done a lot for us. Whatever she’s doing now…that’s her choice. I don’t think it deserves a freaking death warrant. Plus, I just…I’m not sure Collin would do that to her.”

“Oh, because he’s still in love with her?” she asked, getting angry again. “Or you think I’m lying?” Amy asked, looking hurt.

“Well…I just mean, you seem a bit wound up—” He didn’t finish because she suddenly rabbit punched him twice, in the temple and neck, quick enough he couldn’t put up his defense intime. He fell back against the wall, groaning and dazed.

“I’m not, for the record,” she said, shaking out her hand and opening the door. Sloane looked up from having been trying to move the arm rest on her left—it was loose but still not quite giving—and looked at Amy warily. “I trust your “keen ears” heard that?”

“The part where you hit him or the execution bit?”

“Both,” she spat, walking over and grabbing the back of the chair. “Your friends will be here soon, and we need to get you in place.” She hauled her around and dragged her, still tied to the chair, out of the room.

Antonio looked up and got to his feet. “Amy, no. I’m not letting you do this.”

“Well, you’re not going to stop me,” she said. Amy move past him, pulling her charge like a sack of potatoes up the ramp and then the switch-back to the next floor. The elevator in the room was obviously broken beyond repair so it was this arduous task instead. She at least had the strength of a Grimm. Antonio came up past her and stood at the top, blocking her path.

“Amy, Sloane isn’t some random person or enemy! She’s our friend! She’s looked out for us all this time; you can’t just throw that all away.”

“Move, Antonio,” Amy said.

“No! C’mon, so what if she’s gone a little soft? We all have in some ways. We’re not our mentors. Just…Just let her go, and we don’t have to take this any further. I’ll deal with Collin.”

“…Maybe you’re right,” she said. Antonio relaxed, relieved. “Or maybe you should stop underestimating me.” She said slowly, reaching behind her. She brought out the gun and fired it once, hitting Antonio in the leg. He yelled and his leg buckled under the pain.

“A…Amy?” He gasped, stumbling back, a hand going to the wound on instinct even as blood started leaking through. Sloane had craned her neck when Amy was talking and gaped.

“Antonio! Amy, what have you done!?”

Amy ignored her, pulling her one handed up the slope. At the top he tried to move towards her and she brought the gun around again and fired into his stomach, making him gasp and scream.

“No!” Sloane fought, trying to get out of the chair, but Amy was moving again and hauling her to a back door as she put the gun away. “Antonio! Antonio, hold on! We’ll get help!”

“What happened?” She looked up to see Collin standing by a stone path leading to the woods.

“Amy shot Antonio, twice! We need to get him help!” Sloane yelled.

Collin looked at her and Amy shrugged. “He was in my way and wanted to let her go.”

“…Aye, fair enough,” he sighed.

“Are you insane!?” she barked. “He might die from that, Collin! Whatever business you have is with me, there shouldn’t be collateral!”

He sighed and walked over to her, looming over her in the late afternoon sun. He pulled another piece of rope from his pocket. He then grabbed her aching side again and when she opened her mouth in surprise, he shoved the rope in while Amy tied it with a smirk. “I don’t remember you talking so much,” he groused. “But I do need you to be a little quieter till we’re in place.

Sloane glared and struggled, but they picked up the chair again and kept hiking.

\-------------

It was about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive to the spot Collin had specified.

“It’s a ghost town,” Hank said.

“An off shoot of Silver City,” Jacob said. They’d driven over most of the way in their rental car then as agreed drove over with Jacob the last mile to try and keep their arrival fairly low key. They could see the ghost town as they rounded a corner of woods on the road.

“Is Sloane here?” Nick asked, looking at all the buildings critically, trying to figure the most likely location.

“Yes, but I’m not saying where. I’d prefer you just meet him up the main road like he wants right now, till I can figure out how to get Sloane safely out without Collin castrating me…” He parked at the edge of the town.

“Is he that big of a problem? I mean, you’re both Grimms,” Monroe asked.

“Well, who would win in a fight, a moushertz or a Blutbad? They’re both wesen,” he shot back a touch sarcastically.

Monroe nodded, chagrinned. “Okay, I see your point…How does Sloane fair in a fight?”

“I don’t know what kind of condition she’s in given the wreck and that we haven’t seen each other in a long time…but 8 years ago, she’d could probably take us all out if she didn’t hold back. But Collin’s off his rocker now so maybe he has crazy asshole strength to make up for the stupid.” He looked out over the town. “Head in from here and I’ll drive further in, so they hopefully don’t know we came together right away.”

They nodded and filed off the RV while he drove the rest of the way in. They started heading up the road in the middle, weapons ready. It felt surreal, a bit like being on an alien world being hunted and the hunters.

Nick paused when a sound hit his ears. He recognized it after using them before. It was a crossbow being readied and he motioned for everyone to wait, cocking his head. “…Down!” They all scrambled out of the way just as a crossbow bolt came down at an angle to the center of them, nearly striking Monroe down.

“Well, good senses, I’ll give you that,” a cool voice said. They looked up to see a black woman cocking another. “I thought I’d give you a sporting chance with this and see if you wanted to leave.”

“Melinda,” Trubel said.

“Trubel…these the friends from Portland? I admit, I didn’t think there would be so many…”

“Where’s Sloane?” Rosalee said. She shakily pointed a gun at her. “If you don’t tell me, I will fire.”

“…Yeah, I’m not terribly intimidated by that. You don’t know how to use a gun, I can tell.”

“But we do,” Hank said, Nick and he pointed their guns up now and Trubel following suit, all steady. “We don’t want unnecessary casualties though. Be a shame to put a hole through that face.”

She smirked. “Well, aren’t you a charmer. I feel the same, really. So just turn around and leave.”

“No dice,” Nick called up. “We’re not leaving without Sloane.”

“You don’t think Jacob led us into a trap, do you,” Monroe said quietly. Nick had been thinking the same thing, trying not to panic.

“…You came all the way here, loaded up to go to war, and are willing to fight four Grimms for her?” she asked, looking a bit more considering.

“She’d do the same for us,” Trubel said without hesitation, everyone nodding. “And she’d do the same for you probably.”

Melinda didn’t say anything then brought the cross bow up. “I’m not like her though. I gotta put myself first, and I don’t think making enemies of the other Grimms is going to go well for me. They find out about any of this and we’re all going to be in some deep shit because none of this looks good.”

There was a tense second as they stared each other down. Even if they fired, and even if they hit her, she might still get a shot off and hit one of them. “Listen to me,” Nick said finally, slowly lowering his gun. “I’m a Grimm too. I’m here to save Sloane, with our friends. I don’t care what else has happened so long as she’s alive.”

Melinda didn’t lower the crossbow but looked at him curiously. “You’re a Grimm too?”

“Yeah. My mother was Kelly B…is Kelly Kessler. And my aunt was Marie Kessler,” he said.

She froze and then narrowed her eyes. “That’s a big claim.”

“It’s the truth!” Monroe shouted up. “And she’s met all of us! She knows how we operate and is okay with it! …Right?” he added quietly, looking at Nick.

“Yeah, she is. Look, it doesn’t have to be black and white—Grimms can still do what they have to do but we don’t have to be indiscriminate killers! That’s all we’re trying to do,” Nick said, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. He really didn’t want to be shooting everyone they came across. He had a feeling Sloane would still be upset if all her old friends died.

“But you’ll kill me to save Sloane?” she asked coolly.

He gritted his teeth but then nodded. “I don’t want to, but if we have to then yes.”

She eyed him a little longer till Jacob suddenly came running out of another building near the edge of town, waving his hands. “Melinda, don’t! Don’t shoot them!”

“Jacob?” she barked. “What are you doing?”

“I found something we all need to look at, including them!”

“Jacob, if we get them to leave this ends!”

“Melinda, come off it!” he shouted back, surprising her. “Collin has gone insane and it’s not going to end just because they don’t rescue Sloane. And if you hurt any of them, I’m pretty sure she is not going to forgive you. So, let’s just get her out and then we’ll figure out what to do with our real problems.”

She was surprised but then slowly dropped her aim and jumped down from the roof. “…I know you’re right,” she sighed. “I just…”

“We can all talk more later and has this out,” Nick said. “Where’s Sloane?”

“This way. Be ready, Collin will not go down without a fight.” She started for the big mining office building just up the road but slowed. “Why is the door chained?”

“I don’t know,” Jacob said, going and pulling at the padlock. He looked through the window then paled. “A…Antonio? Antonio!?”

Melinda moved next to him and a look of horror came over her face. She then used her crossbow’s body to shatter the window, rushing in with Jacob close behind. Nick and the others looked in and saw a man slumped on the floor, blood seeping from a wound in his leg and his stomach. “Antonio! Answer me!” Melinda said.

Antonio opened his eyes, looking at her blearily. “Ah…hey there, beautiful…and Jacob,” he laughed. “Was wondering what my last sight would be.”

“Tonio, this is not a time for jokes,” Jacob said.

“No…guess not. A-Amy and Collin took Sloane somewhere. Don’t know where…Amy shot me when I tried to stop them…Didn’t think she’d do it…”

Melinda looked shocked but Jacob was trying to press down on the wound. “We’ll get them, just stop talking! Jacob, what can we do?”

“I’m thinking!” he said.

Rosalee managed to avoid the broken glass and went over to look at him. “...He’s lost too much blood. I’ve got some medical tools, but I don’t think he’d make it to town and I’m not prepared for this…I’m sorry,” she said honestly.

“You must be one of Sloane’s friends,” he sighed. “The Fuchsbau?” She nodded, and he smiled when he looked at the others. “Ah…I always knew Sloane would be a popular girl if she lightened up a little…glad she’s got good friends.” He put a hand on Jacob’s hand trying to staunch the blood. “It’s alright. I knew I’d die bloody. I just…wanted to hold on and tell you what happened...”

“Tonio,” Melinda choked out. Jacob eased back, knowing there wasn’t a way to stop the bleeding.

He smiled a bit and leaned into them. “I don’t have a Dead Letter…but my last hunt is to stop Collin and Amy…”

Melinda and Jacob wrapped their arms around him. It was a minute, surrounded in that embrace, before he exhaled and didn’t breathe again. Melinda gave a shuddering breath before pulling back with Jacob. They were both misty eyed but laid Antonio down and stood.

“I’m sorry,” Nick said. He could see they were trying to push away the hurt and it reminded him of Sloane. He wondered if they were all trained that way.

“No. They’ll be sorry,” she said.

Jacob nodded and like that they were back under control. He looked at his watch. “It’s almost five. Collin has something set up for you, it might help us figure out where they are.”

They nodded, following him out and then down further to another building, what looked like an old store. Inside they were surprised to find a TV set up, running off a generator that was already whirring away. “Where did all that come from?” Melinda asked.

“Not sure, it’s not one of mine. Could be from the Wendigo camp. I was gone for a while; he must’ve set this up during that time…” Jacob said. “I saw the lines for the generator and was investigating it while you menaced Sloane’s friends.”

She shot him an annoyed look but huffed. Hank was looking it over curiously. “I don’t see a cable box or satellite, so I don’t think it’s for entertainment.”

“Not on our end,” Nick said, getting a bad feeling.

“Collin set this up because he wants us to see something?” Trubel asked, sharing that feeling.

Hank walked over to look at it. “It’s set up to receive a signal from something wirelessly I think…”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure of the source,” Jacob said. They moved back quickly when it suddenly turned on.

Monroe looked at his watch. “It’s six now…”

They watched as the screen jumped and fizzled a moment before it stilled, and an image came up of Sloane tied to a chair in what looked like a cave. Collin was next to her and from the way the camera moved they guessed Amy was holding the camera.

“Hello there,” Collin said, smiling. “I hope you guys are comfortable. I checked an external camera and saw you go in. Along with Melinda and Jacob…bad form, guys, bad form. I’d ask where Antonio is, but I can guess.” Melinda glared, her hand tightening on her cross bow. “I’m truly sorry it came to that, but he made the wrong choice to cross me. Though I admit it could’ve been handled better.”

“I did what I had to!” Amy said quietly, but enough the camera picked it up.

“No matter, really, it’s done. Now we’re going to go on to why I’ve brought you all here. Because we’re here to have a trial.”

“Trial? What the hell do you mean?” Rosalee asked.

“You see, through the events of the last couple of days, we’ve found out Sloane Larson is a traitor to her kind,” he went on. Nick was able to figure out this wasn’t a two-way signal, Collin couldn’t see or hear them, only broadcast to them. “Now, how does the defendant plea? Oh, sorry, love,” he added snidely, loosening the rope gag. Sloane licked her lips but still looked almost meditative in the chair. They felt their hearts clench seeing that she was bruised, and her leg was in a makeshift splint though. Her arms and legs were secured to the chair as well and Nick felt his gut twist that it reminded him of someone strapped in for an execution. He got in close quickly, looking over the screen for any clue as to where they were. He knew it must be a mine from the look of the wooden support behind them, but he had no idea where it was in the area.

“This isn’t a trial,” Sloane sighed, looking more annoyed than anything. “You already know the answers, we’ve gone over them enough. Get on with it, I’m done with this melodrama.”

“No, I want this recorded for posterity,” he said, taking out a sword and holding it to her throat. “I want you to say what you’ve done. Then you’re going to choose: Your head or theirs.”

“Mine.”

“…I said—”

“Oh, for God’s sake—” she shouted, then looked at the camera with a bright, manic smile. “Hi, my name is Sloane Larson. I’m a Grimm and I have killed A LOT of people, wesen and non-wesen, and now that I decide maybe I should make sure they’re actually dangerous before I do and be more careful, this asshole has a problem! So, I made friends with Wesen, became a detective and made more friends, and they are good people who I’m not turning on so get that little fantasy out of your goddamn head! Oh, and because Collin Donahue feels emasculated that I still won’t roll over and pop out a child for him, after he ASSAULTED ME wanting one about 8 years ago, he thinks I need to die. After already doing this much, that sounds like a mercy. There’s your confession! Now I choose me, and by God just kill me and get it over with so I don’t have to listen to you anymore!”

“Sloane, no!” Nick said. He wasn’t surprised but he really didn’t want her to goad him.

“I don’t think they can hear us,” Jacob said. He was on a tablet and typing something in, kneeling next to the generator by the TV. “I’m trying to track the signal but it’s close enough I can’t get a set location!” He then looked at the generator and started messing with some wiring.

Collin meanwhile looked like he was about to either cry or scream. “Just kill her!” Amy screamed at him from behind the camera.

“You aren’t blameless either! If anyone is there, go to the mining building! Antonio is hurt!” Sloane added. “Amy shot him! These two are killing other Grimms in cold blood!”

“Shut up! Collin, just kill her or I will!”

Collin looked like he wanted to yell at her back, but he finally swung his arm back with the sword aiming for her neck. Just as he was coming through though, Sloane snapped the loose arm rest off and brought it up, still tied to her hand, blocking the swing as it imbedded into the wood and ropes. Collin and Amy were both shocked for a second, but it was only a second she needed. Sloane wrenched the sword down hard enough that Collin lost his grip and the ropes snapped. She caught the hilt, bringing it around to cut through the rope of her other arm. They came to their senses then and Collin moved for her while Amy dropped the camera and their feed was gone.

“Where are they?” Nick asked quickly. Two against one still wasn’t favorable unless Sloane could get all the way out of her binds. “It must be the mine!”

“It’s this way, come on! Head for the gravel road!” Melinda said, rushing out.

They all moved to follow but Trubel paused. “Jacob?”

“I-I’ll be right out,” he said, still doing something to the generator.

“Dude, come on,” she went to grab him and paused when she saw he was messing with the wires that seemed to be haphazardly attached to the generator. Smoke was curling up from one area, steadily getting thicker. “What is that-”

“Move!” Jacob yelled, jumping up to try and grab her. There was a loud bang and Jacob gave a scream of pain. They turned to see the generator he’d been standing next was on fire and he was sprawled out on the floor as the fire started to spread along debris, they hadn’t noticed with all the wires.

“Jacob! Trubel!” Melinda yelled, running back in. She put down her empty crossbow and with Monroe’s help grabbed the two of them and pulled them out of the building just as the fire spread with a _whoosh_ over the floorboards. Monroe cursed and beat a bit of flame out of his pants leg as they got out, the whole building starting to go up in flames.

“H-he rigged it to explode and do that,” Jacob was saying. “I saw it too late, tried to deactivate it…He must’ve seen my notes how to set a trap like this, it’s my fault…”

“Shut up, no it isn’t,” Melinda hissed, looking over him worriedly.

“Trubel?”

“I-I’m okay,” she said, shaken. “Oh God, Jacob…” They all winced when they saw the burns up along his arm and face where he’d gotten flash burns and bits of metal. One bit was dangerously near his eye, and another was sticking out of his shirt near his ribs. “Oh shit…” she hissed.

“I’m okay,” he said, though he sounded pained.

“…Let me help,” Rosalee said, kneeling beside him. “I’m more of an herbalist but I know a bit about these sorts of wounds too.”

“…You’re a wesen? Antonio said…” Melinda asked.

“Fucshbau,” she nodded. Then she woged and Melinda tensed but Jacob put a hand on her arm.

“It’s okay…I’m fine with it and I trust her. She’s Sloane’s best friend,” he said.

“You trust her? Just like that?” she asked a little incredulously.

“I’ll explain later, but you need to stop Collin,” he sighed. “I’m no good like this.”

Melinda hesitated but put his arm over her shoulder as she lifted him up. “I’ll get you back to your RV and let her look you over there. Collin didn’t stop knowing we were in there; I think he’s not planning to let us out of here alive at this point and I’m not sure what else he has planned.”

“Sounds about right,” Trubel said.

“Don’t worry, Rosalee. I’m going to rip his throat out for what he’s done,” Monroe growled, eyes turning red. She just nodded, not dissuading him this time.

“I want to do that,” Trubel said, holding Sloane’s knife in her hands.

“Well, whoever finds him first gets the honor,” Melinda said, eyeing Monroe. She then frowned, counting them all. “…Where’s the other Grimm?”

“…Nick? Nick?!” Hank asked, looking around. “Goddamit!”

The rest of them ran for the gravel road, trying to catch up, just as there was another loud explosion at the water tower at the edge of town. Everyone froze as the iron support screamed as it started tipping.

Nick, who’d been just up the road, skidded to a stop at the first bang was trying to see what was happening. He could just make out Jacob on the ground, but he was moving so he hesitated, thinking he could still get to the mine as fast as possible. Then he saw the other blast and the tower come crashing down, destroying the large building where Antonio had been. He felt the vibration through his feet up to his teeth. “Guys?!” He rushed back over. “Guys?! Are you okay?!”

“We’re not hurt!” Hank yelled. “We were far enough back. Gave me a bad flashback to that Blind Hunter incident, but we’re okay.”

“Except we can’t get to you!” Monroe said. He moved so he could see Nick through some of the lattice support that had been between the iron beams of the water tower. Nick moved to see him back and could see everyone else behind him—Rosalee and Melinda were helping Jacob to his feet. “We’re gonna have to find another way around!”

“Okay…” he breathed, relieved. “I’m going to go on ahead.”

“Nick—”

“Let him,” Trubel said. “Sloane might be fighting for her life right now!”

They hesitated but then nodded. “We’ll find a way around to you as soon as we can.”

He nodded and turned to run up the hill and follow the path.

Melinda sighed and then grabbed a walkie-talkie off of Jacob’s belt despite a moment of protest and held it out to Trubel. “Take this. You can reach me on it if there’s trouble, but I’ll come meet you as soon as I can.”

Trubel nodded, taking it in hand as they moved to head back through town and find a way around.

\----------------

After the camera had fallen and smashed on the rocks, Sloane managed to rock out of the way of Collin, punching him square in the jaw and sending him reeling. She cut one leg free and used it to catch Amy in the stomach with a leg thrust, knocking the wind out of her. Getting her left leg free, she lurched up and nearly fell again when she felt a pain all up her leg. Grunting, she gritted her teeth and concentrated. Blocking out pain was one of her first lessons under Dierdre and she managed to get her legs moving. She brought the back of the sword down on the base of Amy’s skull when she moved to grab her, and she crumpled back down.

Collin was getting up to go after her and Sloane looked around for any way to slow him down. Looking at the wooden support, she saw the top was loose and already crooked to one side. Jamming the sword in between the wood and the rock ceiling, she used it like a pry bar and brought it down to block the path, as well as a good chunk of rock that knocked the sword from her hand. She stumbled back as more fell, covering her face to protect it as did Collin. When the dust cleared, the entrance to the open area they were in was blocked off by the top beam and the two sides collapsing into each other with a lot of rocks. “Sloane!” Collin shouted, filled with rage. He tried to reach for her through the gap that was shoulder height for him, pulling at the rocks and beam like an animal in a cage. She didn’t stick around to see how long till he dug himself out and turned to quickly move back towards the entrance. They hadn’t gone deep into the mine, but she was moving slower than she liked. The sounds around her echoed fiercely to the point her labored breaths sounded like someone else coming up behind her and making her jump and try to shuffle faster. It was dark enough even her Grimm sight wasn’t helping. None of the lanterns were lit after all and the flood lights were broken.

Nick meanwhile was running up the path to the small hill range behind the town. He’d heard a bang but had kept running, not knowing how long Sloane could fight them off or if he was too late. At the top of the hill he saw the entrance to a mine and skidded down the slope to rush over to it. When he got to the entrance though he felt a sting on his cheek and backed up. He felt his cheek and saw a smear of blood come off, then looked a little more closely. Razor wire was set up in the entrance. _Psycho bastard…Glad I slowed down or I’d be chopped brisket._ He moved more carefully, ducking and weaving through the wire which was luckily just a few strands. Inside was dark and he pulled out his phone to turn on the flashlight feature.

“Sloane?” an echoing call came down the shaft.

She paused, confused a moment. _I’m hearing Nick’s voice…am I delirious?_

“Sloane, answer me!”

“Nick?” she asked, hesitant.

With her hearing she could just making out his relieved exhalation and then running footsteps. She saw the light from his phone in the path up ahead before he rounded the corner. He smiled and rushed over, pulling her to him. “Oh, thank God…when the video went dark…”

Sloane swallowed but leaned into him on instinct. It was such a different feeling compared to Collin even years ago—warmth and safety and relief. Collin always hugged her like a spoiled child hugged a toy. Possessively. Hard. Clingy. Then guilt soured the good feelings, but she still gripped his jacket. “I…I got out…What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here?” he said, pulling back enough to look at her. “We all came!”

“…” She leaned over to see if more people were behind him, then looked up at him with a resigned expression. “You rushed on ahead?”

“Well…yes,” he admitted. “But the town had a trap.”

“What? Are they okay?” She asked quickly.

“They said they were, but they had to find another way around. I came on ahead because…I’d started out first.”

Sloane tried to tell herself not to read too much into that. She hid the little flutter in her chest with a playfully sarcastic tone. “And you say I’m too impulsive.”

“Yeah, well, I was worried,” he said.

 _That didn’t help at all!_ Sloane blushed, thankful it was dark even with his cellphone light. “…Thanks. But we need to get out of here, they are right behind me I’m sure.”

“Right, the entrance isn’t far.”

“I can make it,” she said, moving as fast as she could. It wasn’t a run, but it was better than a walk or crawl. They rounded a corner and Nick held up a hand. “Careful…he did trap it.” He pointed at the cut, which she could see now in the thin light from the setting sun outside. She frowned, angry Collin had managed to even put a scratch on him but nodded and followed him as they moved through. He helped support her when she had to balance on her bad leg and she sighed when she got into the fresh air, then coughed a little. She started brushing the dust from her body.

She paused when she felt Nick gently brushing some out of her hair. She looked up and felt an unfamiliar sensation at having his eyes focused on her. A worried pinch was in his brow as he looked her up and down in the light. “…How bad are you hurt?” He wasn’t going to ask _Are you okay?_ When it was very obvious she wasn’t okay.

“…Not sure. My leg hurts bad but can’t exactly get an x-ray. I might have a fracture from the car wreck,” she said honestly.

“Then you shouldn’t be walking! Can you make it up hill?” He pointed at the hill.

“…They veered through the tree line there,” she pointed. “When they brought me strapped to the chair. It’s more level and goes around this hill.”

Nick huffed, trying to think. “Okay…we’ll start that way and then I want you to rest. I’ll get the others and we can make a stretcher for you. Can you make it that far?”

“I think so—” They both paused, looking to the entrance when they heard another sound like something being busted through and her name echoed through. “Collin’s coming…”

Nick nodded and he took her arm over his shoulders to help support her as they started to the trees as quickly as possible.

“…The other Grimms?” she asked slowly.

“…Antonio didn’t make it,” he said softly.

Sloane shut her eyes a moment, cursing under her breath. “What about the others?” she finally asked.

“Jacob actually came to us to help. That Melinda woman tried to make us leave but we refused. I wasn’t too worried since we had her outnumbered, but I didn’t want to kill them if we didn’t have to. Jacob got hurt but Rosalee’s treating him and…they were there with Antonio when he passed. He held on for a bit.”

“…That’s good,” she said quietly, honestly.

Nick smiled and gave her a squeeze but stopped when she hissed. “Your ribs too?”

“Yeah…I’ve been blocking out the pain for a while but moving around makes it harder…” She looked back, scanning through the red glow of the forest as the sun set. She had a bad feeling and knew that Collin was probably hot on their trail. “You can move faster on your own you know.”

“Yeah, no,” he said, knowing what she was thinking. “I’m getting you as close to town as possible, preferably so I can stay with you while we get that stretcher.”

“Hey, I got out of there, I’ll be fine for a few minutes.”

“No.”

“God, all Grimms are stubborn,” she sighed, though she smiled a little. Nick smiled back.

They kept moving until they were around the hill and he could see the town—but the water tower was blocking their path that way as well he realized, a path from the town dug between the two steep hills by the old mining office. “Dammit…”

“Wow, Collin went all out like some kind of wild west villain, huh?” she said.

“No kidding. I guess good thing there aren’t any train tracks he could tie you to.”

She chuckled then grunted again since that hurt. He sighed and then walked over to a tree, easing her down. “The others can’t be far even if they had to go all the way around the hill. I’ll find them and we’ll come back for you, but you should rest for a bit.”

“Okay,” she nodded, easing back. She couldn’t deny she was in pain—her left side ached having to stand upright for this long. It felt good to lay her leg out. Nick held her hand a moment and squeezed it before jogging on ahead. Sloane closed her eyes but enhanced her hearing to be safe and make sure she wasn’t hit unexpectedly. But the quiet she heard was somehow a lot more concerning.

\----------

Rosalee and Melinda had gotten Jacob back to his RV so they could lay him down. Rosalee grabbed the medical back she’d brought along and used her scissors to cut Jacob’s shirt off. “Okay…good news, I don’t think it hit anything vital and it’s not as bad as a gunshot.”

“What’s the bad news?” he asked, trying to breath.

“I have a very mild anesthetic that I was able to sneak aboard, so this is still gonna hurt like a son of a bitch.”

“Great…” he sighed.

Melinda watched as she pulled out the herbs and tools. “…You really are like an herbalist. Old school.”

“Yeah. I’ve helped Sloane and the others put together a lot of cures for wesen caused illnesses and the like. And to get justice on sleazy Ziegvolk lawyer once.” She glanced back as she got a bottle ready. “You don’t need to stick around…or is it that you don’t trust me?”

“…Give me some slack. Sloane may be cool with this, and Jacob is…surprisingly—”

“Oh Mel, this is not the closest I’ve gotten to a wesen with a shirt off, I promise,” he said, smiling a little then grunting as Rosalee poured a liquid over his wounds to numb them.

“…We’ll come back to how innuendo-y that sounds later,” Melinda said, trying to keep her composure. “But while I don’t have Collin’s drive for mayhem, I was trained to take care of any wesen.”

“See, I would see it more as you were trained to protect innocent people or get justice for those that were wronged,” she said conversationally as she pulled on a pair of gloves and got some tweezers to start pulling out bits of the generator. “And I was trained in how to alleviate pain and suffering. I wasn’t always good at it and I’m a bit choosy at times, but here I am. So, what are you doing here?”

Melinda was quiet a moment before sighing and opening a closet to pull out a crossbow. “Borrowing this, Cubby. I dropped mine in the fire.”

“You’re welcome to it, just oil it. Haven’t used it in a while.”

Mel inspected it and did the maintenance before turning to head out. “…I can see why Sloane likes you,” she said. Rosalee glanced back but she was already out the door.

“She’s a softy at heart. She always got me a cake on my birthday when we traveled together,” Jacob smiled. “And Antonio…”

“…I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve done something for him.”

“It’s alright. We knew the moment we looked at him he wasn’t making it out of there…” he said, looking up at the ceiling. “I think Melinda blames herself since she was here in town when it happened and didn’t see it...And that we thought Amy wasn’t as bad as Collin. She was like a little sister to us…but I guess things change a lot in 8 years. Good and bad.”

Rosalee nodded, reflecting on how her life had changed in just about 3 years. “Well, on the Brightside, I think you’ll make a full recovery. Might have a little scarring though.”

“Hmmm, maybe it’ll make me look ruggedly handsome at last,” he chuckled. Rosalee smiled, continuing to work and try and distract herself from wondering how the others were doing.

\--------------

Nick had jogged maybe about ten minutes when he could just make out the others walking towards him. “Guys!” He gasped in relief.

“Nick! Did you find her?” Hank asked.

“Yeah, but she’s still hurt. I let her sit to rest up ahead. Collin and Amy are still on the move too. I think a stretcher would work better to get her out of here…”

“I could manage that if we had a big blanket…” Monroe said.

“Jacob probably has one in his RV,” Trubel said. She grabbed the walkie off her belt and held it to her mouth. “Melinda? Jacob? Anyone there?”

“I read you, what’s up?” Melinda asked.

“We found Nick and he found Sloane. But she could use a stretcher. You wouldn’t still be near Jacob’s RV?”

“I just headed out, but I can get back fast. I don’t know if he has a stretcher though.”

“A big sheet or blanket would work according to Monroe.”

“Alright, I can get it.”

“And duct tape!” Monroe called. “And some wooden rods if possible. Like long ones.”

“And duct tape, uh…long rods?”

“Do I need to make a grocery run while I’m at it?” she snapped.

“Hey, we’re all just trying to get Sloane out of here.”

“I know…” she huffed. “Be there as soon as I can, just let me know your position when I open the channel back up.”

“Okay.” She cut the feed and looked at them. “Should we go back to Sloane?”

“Yeah…I left her about where we saw the fallen water tower. I don’t think we should let Melinda come alone though.”

“Well, she’s not going to want to see me,” Monroe pointed out.

“I’ll go lead her back,” Hank said.

“Okay…Trubel, give me the walkie and go with him just to be safe,” Nick said.

“What? But I want to go! I want to help find Collin!”

“I know, but I don’t want to risk anyone else getting hurt and the sun’s starting to set. You’ll be able to see better in the dim light and make sure you’re not pulled into a trap.”

She frowned but sighed and pulled out Sloane’s knife wrapped in an old bit of cloth (which he was pretty sure was a pillowcase from that hotel). “Give this back to her then?”

“I will,” he nodded, taking it. He took the walkie as well when she held it out to him, and she and Hank started back. Nick opened the channel. “Melinda, I’m sending Hank and Trubel to meet you. I think it’s better to stay in groups. Monroe and I are heading back to where I left Sloane.”

“Sounds good. I’ve got the blanket and tape and I found some old posts I think we can use to make the rods.”

“Awesome,” He breathed. “We’ll let you know when we’re all together.”

“Sounds good. Over and out.”

Nick put the walkie on his belt and nodded to Monroe as they started back through the woods.

Just a few minutes into their trek back, he heard a sound up ahead and looked up in time to catch the glint in the setting sun. “Get down!”

He grabbed Monroe’s shirt collar to pull him down, just as several shots were fired at them. They looked up to see Amy holding a gun, Collin following her. “I thought I heard someone skulking here…” he said. He eyed them all and his frown deepened. “Where is she?”

“She who?” Monroe asked. He quickly rolled as Amy fired again, getting behind a tree while Nick did the same.

“We’re not playing any games right now,” she said. “Where is Sloane? Not that it matters, all of you are going to die.”

“No, we aren’t,” Nick said.

Collin’s head snapped to him and the anger twisting his face was a sight to behold—more monstrous than most wesen he’d ever met. “You…you’re Nick.”

“Good ear,” Nick said, smiling at him.

“Give me the gun, Amy.”

Amy looked at him, gripping the gun tighter. “Are you serious, right now? You want to shoot him yourself like some jealous husband? Still?”

“Amy…” he warned. Nick used that moment of friction between them to grab the gun from the library out of the holster under his jacket and brought it up. Amy yelped as a shot went between them.

“Oh, you came armed?!” Collin laughed. “Good, I didn’t want this to be boring!” He surprised Nick by running forward and he rolled to the side when he brought a blade down towards him. Everyone all quickly got up and scattered to hide behind trees as Amy shot again and reloaded.

Monroe loaded the rifle and moved to try and shoot her, but it didn’t fire. “Oh hell…”

Collin meanwhile was still trying to strike at Nick, not giving him an inch to aim and fire as he swiped at him with the sword—which was apparently pretty damaged and would be like being cut by a jagged bit of metal instead of a sharp edge. That could be worse. He wished he’d grabbed a stun gun or a taser if just to stun him but had to settle for pistol whipping him when the opportunity arose. It of course didn’t send him down, but he touched his blood nose with a manic sort of fascination. “Not too bad…I never asked exactly what you were either.”

“Grimm. Like Sloane.”

Collin stared before giving a bark of laughter. “Oh! Oh, so you’re the one that got into her head then? Got her all messed up?”

“Maybe. Or maybe we finally let her feel like she could be herself.”

“Oh, don’t give me that preachy bullshite!” he shouted, rushing him again. “You think you know anything about her? I grew up with her! I’ve loved her since we were teenagers!”

“You got a funny way of showing it!” Nick shouted back, managing a shot that grazed his side.

Sloane meanwhile opened her eyes when she heard the echoing gunshots. “…Shit,” she breathed, using the tree to try and pull herself up and start limping that way as fast as she could. She could feel her heart in her throat and the pain in her side was an after thought as she tried to focus on the sounds.

Amy was firing at Monroe, since she didn’t want to risk hitting Collin as he and Nick fought. The moments when bits of bark would go flying made him wince. Monroe kept trying to get the rifle firing and finally just snarled and threw it on the ground. “Forget this, the ogre gun made more sense! I’m going the old-fashioned route!” he growled to himself. He watched Amy and when she had to reload her gun, he sprinted out from the tree and woged with a snarl. She gasped and loaded the gun faster. She aimed at him, but he was moving too swiftly for her to get a proper shot before he rammed into her, sending her flying into a tree and dropping the gun. She scrambled backwards on her hands and knees. “Collin!” Collin didn’t even say a word, still trying to hack away at Nick. Amy looked up at Monroe and managed to jump up when he moved to grab her and tried to strike him, but he grabbed her arm and squeezed hard, with his claws out, making her yelp.

Her eyes were black looking at him, but it was strange to see fear in a Grimm’s expression. He supposed that some Grimms were less highly trained and more fumbling killers. He couldn’t deny it was a bit of an ego trip to be holding one like this though no matter how ineffective. “Not so tough now? Why don’t you sit and be quiet?”

“Collin, help!” she screamed, struggling.

“Goddamit woman!” he bellowed. In a move that had Nick surprised, he slapped his gun away with the sword, then grabbed it, elbowed Nick hard enough between the eyes he saw stars and his grip weakened, then threw the gun away while Nick tried to get his bearings. “Won’t be a moment, boyo, then I’ll finish you off,” he said snidely and turned to run over, ready to cut Monroe down. Monroe instead threw Amy at him while backing away and he pushed her away rather than keep her steady while he kept advancing. “I’ll take your head, right in front of your friend!” Monroe dodged back and swiped his claws across his chest, making Collin scream but also making him that much angrier as he advanced on him.

Nick really hadn’t even thought through what he did next. It felt like instinct as his anger rushed up and he felt a similar feeling as when he would transform before into his zombie like state—except with his mind intact. He knew he had one weapon on him, and his hand grabbed Sloane’s knife from his belt at his side, pulling it from the basic wrap in the process. He pinched the blade in his fingertips and remembered Sloane teaching him how to throw this very knife just weeks ago in a refresher with Trubel. It left his grip with more power than a normal human would have, and like a shot it landed right between Collin’s shoulder blades a couple of inches deep, making him seize up. He looked puzzled a moment before his grip on the sword slackened and he staggered. “What the hell…?” he said, his voice whisper quiet. He turned, staring at Nick in confusion as to how he could’ve possibly managed to do this to _him._ While his back was turned, Monroe saw the opening and ran up and grabbed the handle, pulling it out with a vicious wrench of his hand and Collin screamed now, but it didn’t sound strong. He was fairly sure he’d gotten his lung. This seemed more evident when blood came up over his mouth and he dropped to his knees. There was no way he’d be stabilized out here, sharing a similar fate to Antonio that to Nick felt as justified as hunting down a dangerous wesen.

“No!” Amy screamed, grabbing him and trying to hold onto him. “No, Collin!” she sobbed. Collin coughed up more blood.

Monroe breathed out and unwoged, holding the knife and backing away while looking at Nick. Nick just nodded back, satisfied.

Amy was not.

“You bastard!” she screamed. She grabbed the sword and Nick wasn’t prepared for her to launch herself at him. Neither was Monroe, who yelled for him just as she raised the sword to bring it down through his chest before he would be able to get to them.

A shot rang out and Amy screamed when her side was immediately bleeding, dropping the sword which luckily fell to the side on Nick. He immediately got out from under her and looked at Monroe who looked surprised as well. Then he heard shuffling steps from the side and turned to see Sloane limping over to them. She had the rifle Monroe had given up on in her hands and Nick actually felt a chill from the coldness in her expression as she walked over. Amy looked up at her, eyes wide and shaking in pain and fear as Sloane had definitely hit her liver and she was bleeding out a lot.

“S-Sloane…please…I-I’m sorry…” she said, trying to sound contrite and maybe younger than she was, trying to tug on her heart. “Help me.”

She stared down at her and then leaned over her and with a voice that could turn hell into an ice field said. “I’m going to give you as much help as you did Antonio.” Amy stared wide-eyed and Sloane straightened and limped over to Collin. He was still alive, though definitely in rough shape as well. Likely a collapsed lung if not one filling with blood.

“…Why couldn’t you just…come back?” He said, glaring at her with a look of betrayal.

Sloane took a deep breath. “Goodbye, Collin.” She lifted the rifle and fired, right between the eyes at close range.

Nick and Monroe both looked at her in surprise but then she dropped the rifle and started to tip over. Monroe quickly got over to her and grabbed her while Nick got up to help her as well. “Sloane?!”

“Had to make sure he died…” she said, almost delirious.

“Well, did that for sure,” Monroe said, nodding. “Good job.”

“I’m…really tired,” she sighed. And she sounded it. As though her soul just wanted to leave her body because it was just too much.

Nick frowned and without a word picked her up with a hand behind her back and another under her legs. Sloane just leaned against him, drained and not protesting.

“I’ll get the weapons,” Monroe said, looking worriedly at Sloane.

Nick nodded and started back towards the town slowly. “…Thanks for saving me,” he said.

“I wasn’t going to lose anyone else,” she said quietly. “No one wasn’t prepared to lose anyway…Besides, you saved me first,” she said, trying to smile. It didn’t seem like her heart was quite in it, however.

Nick felt for her. Even after all they’d done, Amy at the very least she’d once considered a friend. Collin too. Seeing how far they fell and then basically killing them both was a deep hurt he was sure, even if it was justified. Monroe caught up, holding all the guns, the rifle, and the knife in his arms. “I got everything…including your knife, Sloane. Trubel gave it back to us for you and it, uh, kind of took Collin out…”

“Nick!” He looked up to see Trubel and the others running towards him “What happened?!”

“Collin and Amy attacked,” he sighed. “We fought them, got some good hits. Then Sloane shot them.”

Melinda was surprised and looked at her. “You did?”

“Wasn’t going to let them kill a couple of my friends,” she said. “Amy might still be alive, but I left her to bleed out.”

Melinda was quiet but finally looked at Monroe. “How do we make the stretcher?”

Monroe set all the weapons down and showed her. The folded the sheet up around the two long wooden rods—a couple of old shelf braces she pulled off the walls that were still sturdy—and duck taping them. Nick laid Sloane down when he was done, and she sighed as laying down felt a bit better on her leg despite not minding being held by Nick. Hank and Monroe then opted to carry her while the others got the weapons and Melinda went to go check the bodies herself. It luckily wasn’t too long back to the edge of town where Jacob’s RV was, so they didn’t need to worry about switching out.

Rosalee came out of the RV when they got close and rushed over. “Sloane?”

She looked up and smiled at her tiredly. “Hey…got anything for a headache?”

Rosalee smiled and grabbed her hand to give it a squeeze. “Glad to know you’re sense of humor made it out.”

“I’m only half joking, my head is killing me. So’s my leg…my back…chest…neck…Might be shorter to list what doesn’t hurt at that point and I think that would be my right foot.”

Rosalee’s smile turned a little more worried. Jacob came out then, bandaged up and moving around though his arm was in a sling to keep him from stretching the wound on that side. “Where’s Mel?”

“We’ll explain but first, can we set Sloane down inside?” Hank asked.

“Yeah, sure, of course.” He stepped down and out of the way so they could get her up the steps. It took a little maneuvering with the stretcher and they heard something get bumped.

“Ow! Okay, everything hurts now!”

“Sorry…”

\-------------------

Melinda trekked through the woods in the red light of the setting sun. It was easy to track down where the fight had taken place by following Nick’s footsteps back. She found the sight and it was close to as they described—except the long red strip on the ground from where Amy had followed to where she came to rest by Collin. Melinda went over, looking at Collin’s glass eyes with the bullet hole between them without much sympathy. Amy hurt a little. They’d taken her in when she was just a teen and she’d seemed so sweet then. That she’d turn out this way was a disappointment. Mel wasn’t sure if it was an innate desire to be loved or if it was Collin’s corruption or just gradual chipping away at her. And yet, despite all his bullshit, she still wanted to die next to him?

She leaned down and pressed her fingers to Amy’s neck and found there was no heartbeat. Shaking her head, Melinda straightened. “Dammit…I know I said I wanted to kill you, but…why did it have to come to this? For him?”

\-------------------

Rosalee spent a while making sure Sloane was safe for travel. She wanted to get her to a hospital as soon as they could to check on her leg and other possible internal injuries, but the minor outer injuries she was able to treat. Jacob had microwavable food in his minifridge, and they all had a meal together, Sloane obviously hungry but still eating slowly. She was fairly lost in thought. They explained what happened and Jacob sighed but had resigned himself that that was a likely conclusion—and the more favorable likely conclusion since the other was the rest of them dying if Collin had his way.

Just as they were finishing eating, the walkie on Nick’s hip crackled. “Guys, Melinda here. You copy?”

Nick swallowed the bite of burrito quickly as he grabbed the walkie. “We copy, what’s up?”

“I found Amy and Collin, they’re both gone. I secured the area to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind. I’m going to contact the library about a clean-up crew and that three are dead.”

Nick frowned, glancing at Sloane. “Is that safe? I mean, if they know what happened?”

Melinda was quiet a moment before responding. “It would be hard to explain, I admit…”

Jacob held out his good hand to Nick who handed him the walkie. “Mel, it’s Jacob. I know we don’t exactly have an internal affairs department, but if they even suspect Sloane killed them it’s going to cause a lot of unwanted attention and friction. And I don’t want anyone digging into my life either, that’s part of why I was trying to just appease Collin. I’m already considering faking my death, but I’d really like to keep it fake in case any other Grimms out there don’t like us “fraternizing with the enemy”.”

She sounded frustrated on the other end, but like she knew he was right. “What would you recommend then?”

Jacob thought a moment before nodding to himself and responding. “We haven’t reported the Wendigo hunt yet, have we?”

“No…I was going to do it then Collin broke open the gates of hell, so to speak.”

“Then hear me out. Nick and the others visited the library in Boise before coming out here, and said they were hunting the Wendigos too. Now since we used the element of surprise, we were able to take care of them but by all rights it wouldn’t be surprising if a couple of us ended up dead if an entire swarm fought us.”

“…You want to take their bodies to the compound and blame the wendigos,” she asked, shocked.

“That’s a good idea,” Trubel said, nodding.

“I clawed Collin and Amy up a bit, might help to sell it,” Monroe added.

“But they died of gunshot wounds!” Melinda protested.

“Having a huge group of them together is already strange, we can say they used guns too. Antonio brought guns from his own stash; we can leave them there to make it seem more plausible. Again, we don’t have internal investigations. When they see all those Wendigos, they’ll thank us for our service, salute the fallen as heroes, give them a burial and we can try to…keep moving forward.”

Melinda was quiet again and Jacob looked worried. Sloane sat up with a groan, Rosalee and Nick trying to help her, and motioned for the walkie. He gave it to her. “Mel, it’s me…I know we’re asking a lot. But I think Jacob’s plan is the best option.”

“Even if it means Amy and Collin get a decent burial?” she said.

“Whatever I felt with them towards the end, there was a time they were important to me,” she said honestly. “The fact I had to kill them to save people important to me now and avenge Antonio doesn’t just erase that.”

“Avenge him? I thought we weren’t your real friends?” she said, the bitterness coming out.

Sloane winced and sighed. “I know what I said, but…Antonio still tried to save me. And I realized even if it wasn’t like my friendship with everyone in Portland, you all were my friends and family.” She breathed deeply, blinking a little. “I couldn’t save him and that…that was why I kept you all at arm’s length before, because I didn’t want this feeling. That I failed. Then I had to kill Amy and Collin…I understand if you don’t want to talk to me after this, because it’s asking so much more of you, but please. Please help us this last time. If Dierdre finds out…if my _mother_ finds out…I don’t want to lose anything else. Anyone else.”

There was another pregnant pause before she answered. “You know, I used to think you were part robot. Like the Terminator. Because you just seemed unaffected. I wondered if you would care if we died even then. But I knew you tried really hard to keep us alive. And I know what Antonio would do…” She sighed. “I’ll work it out. I’ll get them to the compound and call it in.”

Everyone let out a breath they were holding. Nick gently took the walkie. “Do you need help?”

“You okay moving bodies?”

“It’ll be faster if we help.”

“…Alright. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll help too,” Hank said.

“I think we should get Sloane to a hospital,” Rosalee pointed out, unsure.

“Hey, I’ve made it this long,” she pointed out.

“We have a contact in Boise who can help,” Jacob said. “I’m not in great shape to drive so if one of you can do it, we can head there in the RV and you guys can drive your rental car back.”

Nick nodded and looked at Sloane. “I’m glad you’re safe now…”

She smiled a bit, though there was a tinge of something in there that looked painful. “Same to you, detective…”

He smiled and gave her a slight hug before standing. Hank gave her a hug as well and she smiled and relaxed back as they headed back out. Hank grabbed the makeshift stretcher to use on the way. Jacob walked Monroe through how to drive the RV and they soon dude a U-Turn through the big open area before the town and headed back for the main road. Rosalee smoothed back some of Sloane’s hair—which was dirty, covered in dust a bit of blood and tangled—and smiled gently. “It’s not a short ride, why don’t you rest?”

She sighed but nodded and laid back to close her eyes. Real rest was not going to come she was sure but at least she could try.

Melinda was waiting for them in the woods and though it was dark Hank had a flashlight and Nick had learned to expand his vision at night. Hank had nearly dropped the flashlight when he looked at him and it looked like his irises had turned black with a shine like an animal’s in the night. “Man, you gotta warn me when you figure out new shit you can do…”

“Sorry,” Nick said, a little amused. They got to where Melinda was, and her eyes had the same otherworldly quality.

“Huh, you really came…”

“I said we would. We brought the stretcher too.”

“Good idea,” she nodded. They loaded Amy first, Melinda closing the girl’s eyes when they saw they were still open with frown.

“…We’re sorry you lost so many friends today,” Hank said honestly.

She looked at him then back down as she crossed Amy’s arms and legs to make it easier. “Honestly…we lost Collin and Amy a long time ago, I think. Especially if she had no qualms shooting Antonio…”

“Yeah…but doesn’t make it easier. I had a cousin that was like a brother to me growing up. Then one day as a beat cop I had to arrest him for drug trafficking and assault. I know it’s not quite the same but it’s that feeling of “Where did I go wrong? Why did you turn out this way?”, right?”

Melinda gave him a searching look before smiling a bit. “Yeah. Pretty close. So, you’re a cop and you don’t mind…?” she gestured.

“Detective, actually. Hank Griffin,” he offered his hand and she shook it. “Nick’s my partner. At the precinct,” he added quickly.

“And Sloane is also our partner,” Nick said. “Our Captain is in the know and pulled some strings and made her a detective.”

“Oh, that’s what she meant,” Melinda said, grabbing one end of the stretcher. “I wondered about that. But seriously, you’re okay with this?”

“It’s some extenuating circumstances,” Hank said, lifting the other end. “But I’ve been in on the wesen thing for a bit now and helped out Nick and Sloane where I can.”

“…And Sloane’s happy in Portland?”

“I think so,” Nick said, following along with the flashlight this time. “When we first met, she tried to kill Monroe and Rosalee. But she needed help with a hunt, even if she didn’t want to admit it…” he started telling the story of meeting Sloane, then flowed into some of their other cases with Hank’s help. Melinda listened, curious at first then enjoying them. It helped distract her as they walked Amy’s body back and pit it in her truck bed. They went back for Collin and brought him back the same way. Then they had to dig Antonio’s body out of the now wrecked office building and carry him back. She lingered on him a moment before putting the tailgate back up and sighing.

“Thanks…You know, I have to admit, listening to the stories…you guys are probably good for Sloane. It sounds like she’s…I don’t know, healed from a lot of the stuff she kept inside that hurt her."

Nick smiled, but hesitated. “I think she’d still like to be friends with you, you know.”

“I’m not sure,” she sighed. “I just…It’s too much right now.”

He nodded, a little disappointed but not surprised. Hank then reached into his pocket for his card and a pen. He wrote down Sloane’s number and email on the back and handed it to her. “Here. You want to talk or if you need help, let us know.”

Melinda looked at it then at them and nodded as she put it in her own jacket pocket. “Thanks…Climb in the back, I’ll drop you off at your car.”

“You want help dropping them off?” Hank asked. “We can follow.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that,” Nick said. “Just figured it’s not a fun thing to do on your own. Plus, we’re all in it deep enough already.”

“…Alright. It’s actually on the way, so follow me in your car.”

\-----------------------

After getting back to Boise, Jacob drove to a local hospital but parked way in the back. He dialed a number on his cell and rattled off a bunch of information Monroe and Rosalee weren’t sure meant anything. Yet in a matter of minutes two nurses and a doctor came out with a stretcher to meet them. Monroe and Rosalee hid in the bathroom just to be safe, though it was a tight fit. The nurses helped move Sloane to the stretcher and then back into the hospital. Another looked Jacob over and provided some additional pain relievers and medicine from a bag.

“Trubel, you should go in too, make sure there’s no other issues from the crash.”

“I’m okay,” she argued.

“Humor us,” Sloane said. “Not like you gotta pay for it.”

Trubel made a “fair point” sort of expression and stood to follow them. “I’ll walk though.”

“You can come out now,” Jacob called. “They’re going admit her under a different name and start running tests. They’ll let us know we can come see her.”

“You guys have people everywhere, huh?” Monroe asked, opening the door so they could untangle themselves and get out.

“Most major cities. Usually if we have a library there, we’ll have contacts at least one hospital. The Grimm traits are down but there’s still Kehrseite and people without the sight who want to help all the same.”

“No one in politics?” he half-joked.

“No, that’s too much of a royal route,” he said, the distaste evident. “But we have some in the finance world to help move money where it’s needed. Gotta say I like having my own income though.”

“Sloane’s made that remark before too,” Rosalee said.

“Yeah, though she really doesn’t have to worry given her inheritance from her grandmother…But I guess she still doesn’t like touching that,” he sighed. He jumped when his phone went off and looked at it with a smile. “Oh, it’s Wes! Oh…oh dear, he wants to face time…”

“Is that bad?”

“It’s not going to be fun…” Sighing, he okayed the call. “Hey babe…”

“…Jacob, why are you covered in cuts?” a deep voice asked.

“Well, see…”

“You said you would be careful!”

“I was! Just…a lot has happened.”

“Did you get them looked at?”

“Yes!” He turned the phone and Rosalee straightened in surprise. The man on the phone was of Asian descent, built tall and with some muscle to him. “This is Rosalee. A friend of a friend who treated me. Rosalee, tell him I’m fine, he worries too much!”

“I worry because you are a trouble magnet!”

“Um, he’ll be okay,” Rosalee said, looking awkwardly at Monroe who shrugged, not having expected this.

“What happened?” Wes asked.

“A minor explosion—” she started.

“How can that be minor?!”

“Babe, don’t yell!”

“Sorry, sorry…” he said, breathing deep.

“As I was saying, a minor explosion Jacob was trying to stop. He’s got a few minor burns and cuts from debris and one rough one on his side but as long as he keeps them moist and clean, they should heal fairly quickly with the ointment I used. He saved our friend from the brunt of it and we’re really grateful. He also helped save our other Grimm friend from a crazy Grimm. So, your boyfriend’s a hero in our books.”

Jacob smiled, touched, and Wes sighed but smiled tiredly. “That doesn’t surprise me…I just wanted to check in since you didn’t yesterday.”

“Right, I’m sorry, just…a lot happened. I’ll tell you the whole story later, okay? We’re still dealing with the fallout right now.”

“Okay…”

Jacob glanced at them and blushed a little as he turned a little more away. “Love you…”

“Love you too, nerd,” Wes laughed. “Get home soon as you can and keep me updated.”

Jacob smiled and they ended the call.

“You know, I thought you might’ve been lying to trick us at one point,” Monroe said. “But that was sweet.”

He blushed again and smiled. “Yeah, well…I think I’m going to officially retire from being a Grimm.”

“You can do that?” Rosalee asked.

“Not easily, unless you’ve been put out of commission. But I should be able to work at cutting ties. I have some favors to call in. I’m just not cut out for this; don’t think I ever was really but felt at least a little obligated even after my family disowned me…”

Monroe knew a bit about friction with a family and wasn’t about to advise to make amends after all that time—that would be up to his parents to attempt that. But he still patted Jacob’s shoulder in understanding and Rosalee smiled sympathetically as well.

\----------------------

Melinda dropped Hank and Nick at the car like she’d said. The Wendigo compound was just off a road on the way to Boise and though they followed the dirt road that was practically hidden by the trees up to it. When they got there, Nick looked around. “So…there were…”

“About fifty Wendigos,” Melinda said, knowing what he was thinking. “All adults, I’d guess between 20 and 40 years in age. Found victims half eaten most of the houses too, no way to identify them. Sloane saved the only two survivors…” She sighed and shook her head a bit. “We can lay them out here, it won’t seem that odd.” They nodded, getting them out and laying them down. Reflexively they laid Antonio down a little further away. Melinda grabbed some sheets from one of the houses and covered them all. “…You know, I was tempted to actually kill you all when I first saw you. It felt easier than confronting how much I was messing up not just thinking Collin would stop. That I’d failed Sloane 8 years ago in not seeing how bad he was and failed her again now because…”

“We sometimes see what we want to see,” Nick said, nodding.

“And hey, you didn’t kill us. That’s a plus in my book,” Hank said.

Mel smiled just slightly. “Oh damn…Antonio would’ve liked you sappy, sarcastic idiots…” she said, choking just a little bit. Hank patted her on the back, and it was just a few minutes of quiet before she nodded and headed back to her car.

\-------------------

By the time they got back it was almost midnight. Trubel and Sloane were both done being examined and Jacob gave Nick and Hank the run down:

Trubel—Bruises and cuts, as they’d known, but also a couple of cracked ribs and a pinched nerve in her neck she had been hiding from all of them to try and help. Some bruises ran down deep and would take a while to go away. She was relatively lucky considering the crash thanks to her seatbelt and the airbags.

Sloane—Of course, in worse shape. Similar cuts and bruises, but also her cracked and one broken rib, a sprained wrist, and a fractured tibia that the makeshift splint (Antonio’s idea, she learned, when he could tell it was pretty swollen) helped keep in place but had very nearly splintered with her trying to move on it. No surgery needed, luckily, but she’d have to stay in a cast for six weeks. This would also give time for her bruised spleen to recover. In short, she was going to be sore as hell for a while.

Rosalee had called Clint and asked him to wait till tomorrow to fly out, with Sloane and Trubel. He figured since they’d packed light, he should be able to handle that many people but asked not to add anymore. The rest of them found a nearby motel to rent rooms in and collapsed till morning. After getting a complimentary breakfast, they were surprised to find Jacob in the hall waiting for them.

“Hey. I’m going to be heading back today, Mel has the rest covered. She asked me to say bye for her since she just headed over to the library.”

“You don’t want to say bye to Sloane and Trubel?” Rosalee asked.

“Oh, I already did. Even traded numbers and email with them. And got a picture.” He got his phone and held it up. He was smiling and Sloane was rolling her eyes but smiling Trubel laughed. “I know it’s not perfect, but considering she never smiled for pictures before, this is pretty good…She had me send it to her.”

Nick smiled. “She’s still not big on having her picture taken, that hasn’t changed much. But she’s got some hanging up in her house. Visit sometime.”

He smiled back and nodded. Then looked a bit more serious. “Treat her good, okay?”

Nick blinked but nodded. “Yeah, of course, we all will.”

Jacob eyed him but still smiled. “Alright. See you guys around.” He waved as he headed for the back door of the motel. Nick felt like he missed something but shrugged. They quickly packed what little they brought and went to pick up the two patients at the back of the hospital. Sloane had a walking boot on over her cast and accepted Monroe’s help getting her into the car. She looked better but was still oddly quiet.

As they started driving towards the Airport, Trubel perked up. “Hey, what about the Library weapons? Don’t we need to return them?”

“Melinda is doing that for us,” Nick said. “Since she had to go to them today anyway to get things ready for the clean-up.”

“So now we can just go home and relax,” Monroe sighed. “I mean, at least relax a little…”

“We’ll get back on figuring out who’s threatening you once we do,” Nick said.

“I appreciate that, but let’s take a couple of days to breathe,” Rosalee said. “Besides, it’s almost Christmas and there’s a lot we need to do.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, I still need to decorate!” he laughed. He glanced at Sloane, expecting a joke, but she was looking out the window. “…Hey, you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, fine, just…” she said, hesitating.

Nick put a hand on her shoulder, nodding. “We get it…just take your time.”

She looked at him, then at the others who all nodded. She sighed deeply in relief, because she just didn’t think she could stay out of her head very long at the moment. “Thanks…”

\-------------------

When Clint’s plane landed, Nick helped Sloane down the ramp. She realized he’d touched her more the last few days than she’d let anyone really do, yet her heart was still constantly beating harder. She’d almost let it just go on doing that. Just steal this moment, just for a bit…

“Guys!”

She looked up and felt that guilt drag her stomach down when Juliette waved to them from the side of the airport—it was a smaller private one Renard had gotten permission for them to use so it was easy for her to come meet them. The rest of their cars were nearby as well.

Nick smiled happily at seeing her and the guilt mixed with a painful jab in her heart. She looked away and swallowed it all down. “Juliette, hey!”

“Hey! Oh…oh Sloane…” she said, looking at her up and down. For a tense moment Sloane wondered if she knew what she was feeling. If they all did. If this was where it all blew up and she’d lose everything she had now on top of so much from before. But Juliette instead walked up and gently held her. “I’m so glad you’re alive…”

That was somehow worse. It was sweet, but there was a sour bitterness coating it from her knowing her crush on Nick was now more firmly rooted than ever. It felt like betrayal, not on Juliette’s part of course but on her part. But she patted Juliette’s back and smiled. “Thanks, Juliette…”

“I’m glad you’re all alive,” Renard said, walking up to them. He frowned when he looked over Sloane. “I was worried how hurt you’d be though…”

“It looks worse than it is,” Sloane said. “I’ll be back chasing bad guys—”

“In six weeks,” Rosalee said, eyeing her sternly.

“…What she said,” she sighed.

“That’s fine, you can do some desk work during investigations. But take two of those weeks off to rest, alright? I’ll say that you had a car accident.”

“True on some level, but it wasn’t an accident,” she nodded.

“No. But I’m glad you’re all back safely now,” he said, and they believed him.

She smiled a little and Nick helped her over to the cars so they could drive home. Once there, Trubel helped her settle down with her foot elevated and her laptop nearby to watch some stuff. “…Trubel? Thank you.”

“For…?”

“Keeping your promise to come get me…Not gonna lie I…I was a little scared there for a second…” she confessed. “Don’t tell the others, but I wasn’t sure I would get out of there. It was pure luck I was finally able to get that chair apart when I did…I tried when she shot Antonio and it just held so I don’t know…”

Trubel looked at her a moment before walking over. “…It’s not your fault, you know,” she said slowly. “What they did, that’s on them. You…You’re a better Grimm than Collin or Amy or any of them really. I mean, Jacob’s cool and Melinda’s…still pretty cool, if I’m honest. But you’re like…the kind of Grimm I think I want to be. And I think Antonio liked you still too if he wanted to save you. And they chose to fight and…you did what you had to.”

Sloane nodded slowly, then pressed a hand to her eye as she felt a sting there. Trubel didn’t say anything more, but she leaned in and gave her a hug. She’d often thought of Sloane as superhuman. The other Grimms did too, it seemed. But since coming to Portland, she’d humanized herself. It came with a lot of good things, a feeling like she was allowed to finally smile and do things for herself and have a life. But the pain it came with made it hard. Trubel understood that better than anyone thought. She’d wrapped herself in barbed wire long ago, scared to let anyone close until she came here. Getting close to everyone here felt like the first time in years she was wanted and at home. And it was scary how close she was to losing all of it. It really made her think what she wanted for the future. But for tonight, she just wanted to be there for Sloane.

\------------------------

“It seems everything is in order,” Mr. Lumb said, checking off the last of the guns. “I will mark Mr. Burkhardt’s account as clear.”

“Thanks,” Melinda said.

“I’m sorry to hear three were lost in the fight,” he said. “We’ll pick up their bodies right away and clear the area of the wendigo remains as well. Were there any other issues?”

Melinda shook her head. “No, nothing major. I came out the least injured, but the others got treated and are going to be fine. Back on the road again already.”

“Always busy, then. Well, is there anything else I can do for you, Miss Romaneck?”

“No, thank you Mr. Lumb. I leave the rest to you.”

He nodded and waved as she headed back to the door to return to the surface. Mr. Lumb put the weapons in an area where they would be cleaned later. He then went to the computer and typed out a message regarding the clean-up at the specified coordinates and the recovering of three bodies. He then marked them as dead in the library system. He had their cards on file and each of their pictures turned red as he marked them deceased. When he marked Collin Donahue, a note popped up that he had a Dead Letter that he had emailed in recently. It struck Mr. Lumb as odd but he hit print. It was his policy not to read the Dead Letters. While often meant as means let others know about hunts that needed to be finished, some also used them to say things they didn’t get to say in life. It was much too personal. Once the letter was printed, he only looked at the assigned name at the time. It was a surprise, but he still read no further and folded the letter up. Taking an envelope, he set the letter inside before using a fountain pen to scrawl a name over it. He then melted a small bit of wax and sealed it with a scroll work G stamp. Old fashioned, but this was still how they delivered the Dead Letters to avoid any breach in security. But he did have the advantage of not having to call up every library to let them know to point the chosen Grimm in his direction. Instead he went to her profile and marked that she had a letter waiting and for her to give an address to send it to as soon as possible.

When that was done, he went to a mail shelf, found the correct slot for her last name and slid the letter in so that he could see the name clearly when needed.

_Dierdre Galperin_

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thank you for your patience. The holiday season was hectic as heck and then I got sick and some other stuff has gone on that ate up my energy and time. Plus I actually changed this chapter a lot from what I originally planned--originally, all new Grimm would be the bad guys here and die, but I go attached to Melinda, Jacob and Antonio. Killing Antonio was hard but...yeah. I thought about putting this as a chapter on the last part but thought that might be confusing given I haven't done that before so it's its on part.
> 
> Hopefully next chapter comes a little quicker now that I'm not sick (well, as sick, GET YOUR FLU SHOTS!) and things start turning out for the better on some other things. Wish me luck!


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